Burial plots for Tk 3.5 lakh

Rawdatul Jannah, a concern of MIS Holdings, is offering permanent burial plots at the ongoing REHAB fair, as the developer looks to solve the capital’s graveyard crisis arising out of exponential population growth.

Dhaka, a city of 16 million, has only eight public graveyards -- too few to cope with demand. Since 2008, city corporation officials have stopped allocating permanent graves, while a semi-permanent one, which can last about two years, can cost upwards of Tk 1.50 lakh.

“Every day, 300 people die on average in Dhaka city, but there is not permanent resting space,” said Showayeb Hossain, managing director of Rawdatul Jannah.

The company is offering a 3.5 by 7 feet plot for burial at Panjora mouza of Kaliganj, Gazipur, which is a 25-minute drive from Kuril flyover, for Tk 3.5 lakh. There will be an additional Tk 20,000 service charge.

The private graveyard is built on 200 bighas, enough for 80,000 graves. Besides the graves, there will be a mosque, a madrasa, an orphanage, an old home and a child care centre, where all the modern facilities will be available.

“The plot owner will benefit from these installations in the form of “Sadquiya Jariya” after their death,” Hossain said.

Besides, the customers will get all burial solution at free of cost.

There will also be a provision for mortuary to preserve bodies if needed and freezer van to transport the bodies from the desired pick-up point. The entire complex will remain under CCTV surveillance round-the-clock.

Registration will be completed within 24 hours of purchasing the plot, he said.

Thus far, two have been buried at the graveyard.

The five-day fair, organised by the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), began at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka yesterday.