HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday issued notices to the chief administrator of Auqaf, Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) managing director, director general of the Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) and regional heads of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) and Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) on a petition questioning insanitation in the Meeran jo Qabrastan graveyard of the city, which dates back to 1878.

Notices were issued for March 14 on a joint constitutional peti-tion filed by Qambar Ali and 16 others. Represented by Jawad Qureshi advocate, the petitioners informed the bench that the graveyard was located in Tando Mir Mohammad Jurial Shah Colony on land measuring 214 acres allotted on July 16, 1878. An entry was made in the revenue record.

The petitioners, residents of Tando Mir Mohammad, stated that their ancestors were buried in the graveyard.

They said the staff of HMC, Auqaf department and divisional administration failed to perform their duties and did not take action against encroachments and other illegal activities there. In collusion with the HMC and Auqaf department staff, people encroached the land reserved for the graveyard and constructed multistorey buildings, they said, adding that theresidents of adjoining areas also started encroachments on the land of graveyard by using it as godown and storage of waste material.

They said livestock, including camels and other animals, along with their carts were also kept there. The petitioners said land grabbers were stealing electricity and gas, but the SSGC and Hesco failed to take any action because they had monetary interests. They disclosed that the HMC staff threw waste on the graves and Wasa staff were using graveyard as a drainage pond to release waste water from drains/gutters only to cause damage to graves and tombs.

The petitioners stated that after waste was thrown in the cemetery, houses or shops were constructed there and it was seen that since 2006, a number of houses and shops in the shape of encroach-ments had constantly increased.

They said trees were cut in the past 10 years in order to occupy/ grabland ofthe graveyard.

The petitioners have attached Google images to show encroached area between 2016 and 2018. They said the respondents also did not take any action againststray dogs.

They maintained that respondents were bound to take action to secure government land, but they remained silent and allowed encroachment.

The petitioners said the graveyard was spread over 214 acres in 1873, but presently it had been reduced to only a few acres due to negligence of the respondents.

They stated that a road had been built without any authority in the midst of graveyard as a link road/ passagein ordertofacilitate transportation for godown owners andland grabbers.

The petitioners have prayed the court to direct respondents to remove encroachments from the graveyard and retrieve 214 acres of the graveyard land. They said the HMC and Auqaf department should be directed to demolish illegal link roads and Wasa as well as the HMC should be restrained from dumping waste on the land of graveyard.

They said the respondents should be directed to protect the graveyard and other government properties by installing adequate lights, planting trees and constructing boundary walls around the land of the cemetery. They also prayed the court, comprising Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon, to order action against those pilfering electricity and gas.