Prakash Thakur, a resident of Tando Yusuf in Hyderabad, runs a retail shop. On Holi and Diwali, whenever he visits the graves of his loved ones, he returns with tears in his eyes. The cause of this sadness is not the separation of loved ones but something else.

Prakash's sister, grandfather and many dear relatives are buried here in the joint graveyard of the Hindu and Christian communities.

The municipality has turned this cemetery into a garbage dump.

Municipal trucks dump the garbage from the surrounding areas in this cemetery. This time, even the mayor of Hyderabad planned to bury the ashes in this cemetery on the occasion of Eid. When the Hindu community strongly protested, the mayor withdrew his decision.

Most of the graves, including those of Prakash's relatives, are submerged in dirty water.

Some people from the Hindu community in Pakistan bury their dead instead of cremating them.

Prakash Thakur told LokSujag that this sewage water did not come all at once but has been a problem for many years. Some people from the neighbourhood had even filed a petition in the High Court, but the case could not be pursued since the residents could not afford the lawyers' hefty fees.

This 65-year-old cemetery is facing not just sewage but also another threat.

The cemetery has been shrinking for the past several years. Due to the lack of a boundary around it, people have demolished the graves and built their houses on the land.

Prakash alleges that Ali Muhammad Sahto, the general secretary of the PPP in district Hyderabad and a former MNA, has illegally occupied the cemetery's land and constructed a house. At the same time, there is also a plan to release sewage water here “because he wants to grab all the land of this sole minority cemetery.”

Ali Mohammad Sohto denies the allegation and says that he has nothing to do with any seizure.

"People say anything because of political opposition. I will go to court against the accusers".

Rani Kumar, a minority councillor who was successful as an independent candidate from this Hyderabad municipality constituency, told Lok Sujag that she has only been a councillor for a few months but the problem has been there for years.

She says that her daughter, father-in-law and father are buried in the same cemetery, and the stench has spread all over the graveyard due to dirty water. She says that she is discussing this matter with the mayor of the area and other officers.

More than 4,000 graves have been submerged in dirty water here, and only a few graves are visible.

"Our great personalities are buried in this graveyard. Our Guru Pancha Ram, Pir Mungo Ram and other religious leaders are buried here".

A big city like Hyderabad has a population of 19 lakh, while the number of non-Muslims in the city is more than two lakh. Despite such a large population, people of the Hindu and Christian communities in the city are currently worried about the burial and last rites of their dead because their crematoriums and graveyards in different areas of the city are being illegally occupied.

Former Member District Council Haider Mahaveer told Lok Sujag that this is the condition of Tando Yusuf cemetery for the last twenty years. When he became a member of the district council, he had drawn water from the graveyard twice or thrice, but it was of no use because there is no drainage system for the houses built by occupying the cemetery's land. The dirty water of these houses comes here.

72-year-old M Prakash Advocate, Chairman of Hyderabad District Hindu Panchayat and a three-time member of District Council told Lok Sujag that the only solution to this problem is to build four walls around the graveyard and improve the drainage system.

"Some time ago, a government team, after visiting here, wrote in its report that funds of crores of rupees are required for the cemetery, and no one is ready to provide the funds."

He says that this graveyard was about ten acres and due to encroachments, it has now shrunk to three acres and that too is submerged in dirty water.

"We have raised the issue everywhere but to no avail".

M Prakash says that the immigrants from India occupied the 12 acres of land of the ancient cremation ground of Tandu Wali Muhammad. The case against this issue has been going on since 1970.

Buta Masih, the leader of the Christian movement, said that the Hindu community has given a part of the cemetery to the Christians due to common courtesy.

"In 1957, we were allotted a cemetery on an acre of land in Latifabad unit five of the Hyderabad area. We collected funds and built four walls there. Due to lack of space, we had to bury four dead bodies in one grave."

He says that ten years ago, he got 10 acres of land for a graveyard at Ganjo Takkar, away from the city, but it was also encroached upon.

"Where shall we go and bury our dead? The entrance to the Ghora Ground Cemetery has been closed."

The Cantonment Board has built a big petrol pump and shopping centre in front of the Ghora Ground Cemetery, blocking the main road to the Christian Cemetery.

Minority leader Boota Imtiaz Masih said that during the tenure of former mayor Tayyab Hussain, a project worth Rs 1 crore 37 lakh was approved for this cemetery in 2016. Under the plan, four walls of the cemetery, the main gate and a small room were to be constructed, but the work on this project never started.

"At that time, we applied to the Deputy Commissioner of Hyderabad, after which this project was sanctioned. In this regard, necessary measurements were also done, but the project was stopped due to political interference."

Boota Imtiaz says that after the approval of the post, MNA Ramesh Vankwani jumped into the matter. He tried to get the work done in his own way to get credit, but the matter got stuck.

Mansoor Ahmed, director of Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, says that he has got the water drained from Tando Yusuf's graveyard many times, but it fills up again.

"This cemetery is in a low-lying area, due to which the population's waste water comes here. The problem will not be solved until the encroachments are removed."

Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Tariq Qureshi told Lok Sujag that it has been a few months since he was posted here, but he knows that according to the map, this cemetery was spread over ten acres. He said that he is aware of illegal occupations here.

He further said that he has never received any complaint in this regard, yet he will arrange to drain the water from the cemetery as soon as possible and will also take steps regarding illegal occupation.

Lok Sujag contacted Hyderabad Mayor Kashif Shoro, but he declined to give his comment.

The local municipality is dumping garbage from several city areas in the minority graveyard.