Hyderabad: Shab-e-Barat today but graveyards still lying in filth and squalor

Hyderabad: The ceremonial Islamic festival of Shab-e-Barat falls on the night of Tuesday, March 7, However, the cleaning of graveyards in the city had not been completed in time for the night. Many Muslims pay a visit to the graveyard on Shab-e-Barat.

Laylat-ul-Baraat or Badi Raat, as it is also called, is when the Book of Deeds for the following year is written, including birth, marriage, death, and significant life events. Thousands of Muslims will also visit graveyards to pray for the departed souls. Now, they were forced to clean the area around the graves of the family members as debris and garbage had not been removed.

Each year, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) approves the works for almost every major Muslim graveyard across the city, but contractors have not completed the job. As per the sources, the tender process was held on Sunday, and yet hardly thirty percent of works were done in all graveyards in the city. Corporators complained that a few contractors had succeeded in getting the contracts by bidding a small amount against the estimates and carrying out substandard works.

Muslims said that when they visited one of the biggest graveyards of the city, Daira Mir Momin, at Sultan Shahi in Old city, they found debris and garbage spread around the graves. Firasat Ali Baqri said, "We are forced to clean the area around the graves of our family members as debris and garbage has not been removed."

There are several such graveyards, including Mir Momin ka Daira in Sultan Shahi, Barhaneshah graveyard in Santoshnagar, Bada and chota Qabrastan in Yakutpura, Bada kabrastan in Barkas, which are spread in several acres of and are the largest graveyards in city.

While several other localities, including Misrigunj, Bahadurpura, Puranapul, Nampally, Tolichowki, Kukatpally, and other areas, also crave for attention. "GHMC should come up with the facilities before the Shab-e-Barat, as it would be difficult for people to even walk in the graveyard and to identify the graves for their relatives," said Mohammed Ahmed, TDP Vice president Minority cell.

Ahmed said, "The GHMC had sanctioned the amount, and contractors took the bill. However, till now not even thirty percent of the cleaning works were taken up by them. In a day, how can a graveyard spread in acres can be cleared?" He asked.

Moreover, Mir Momin ka Daira graveyard, Sultan Shahi is one of the largest graveyards in the city houses about one lakh Sunni and Shia graves and is visited by lakhs of Muslims on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat. "This graveyard remains neglected for years. There are no proper lights in the graveyard," said a Shia Muslim at the graveyard.