GUJRAT: The Punjab government will establish a model graveyard at the forest land of Rakh Pabbi Sarkar area between Kharian and Sara-i-Alamgir cities along the national highway.

A sum of Rs70 million has been allocated for the project in the Annual Development Program (ADP) for 2022-23 fiscal year. Only Rs15 million have been earmarked as an initial amount to be released for launching the scheme.

The Punjab Local Government and Community Development Department (LG&CD) had proposed the scheme which has been accorded approval on the recommendation of the elected representatives of the area. Earlier, such a scheme of establishing a model graveyard in Gujrat city had been launched last year for which a budget was also allocated. It could not be launched.

Official sources said a piece of land measuring around 50 kanal owned by the Punjab Auqaf Department had been selected for the project near Ghazi Khokhar village on the city outskirts.

The land had been mutated in the name of the LG&CD but some tenants of the land had gone into a litigation causing an inordinate delay in the initiation of the scheme execution, they said.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2022