The Faqeer Mullah graveyard, a burial space earmarked in Balapur for those who have succumbed to COVID, has seen close to 150 burials since the second week of April.
“We received the first COVID body on the 15th of Ramzan (corresponding to May 9) after which the burial was done with full adherence to government guidelines. So far, 150 bodies have been buried here. Yesterday there were six, and today we buried five. We have received information that three others from private hospitals in Hi-Tec City and other areas are on the way,” said Asif Habeeb, who has been supervising burials at the graveyard.
While it was in 2018 that the Telangana State Waqf Board was allotted the land on the recommendation of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, later 10 acres of the graveyard have been earmarked for burial of COVID victims.
Mr. Habeeb said the number of burials reached a dozen, but in the last two days have seen half-a-dozen burials each with bodies coming from areas such as Hafeezpet and S R Nagar.
“Everything is done according to government guidelines. As per rules, grave is dug much deeper (eight feet), very few family members are allowed to see the burial and the area is disinfected. Initially, there were some problems, but now procedures are in place,” he says. A team of gravediggers is always at standby.
Every burial is photographed or recorded, and a record of the number of burials per day is maintained by the authorities.
Naseer Gayas, a journalist who is one of those in-charge of the graveyard along with MIM member Ahmed Saadi and the local corporator, opines that the number of burials at the graveyard could have tapered as other graveyards are gradually permitting burials.