CHIKKAMAGALURU: Around 150 families hailing from Shillekytha fishing community (Scheduled Caste) living at Menasuru Ravuru Camp in NR Pura taluk have no place to bury their dead.
These families have been deprived of a burial ground although they have been living in the camp near the backwaters of the Bhadra river for nearly two decades.
The community members are forced to bury the dead in an islet a few kilometres away from their camp. The body of an aged man, who died on Sunday, was taken to the islet on a coracle to perform the last rites.
One of the community members told TNIE that they struggle to bury the dead during the monsoon. “We find water as we start digging a pit. We cover the pit with leaves to prevent water from seeping in before burying the body there. We faced this problem on Sunday too,” he said.
“Sometimes, pits are dug in places where bodies were buried earlier. During summer, the Bhadra backwaters recede and the bodies are buried on the shore,” he said.
Another member of the community said, “Our appeals to the gram panchayat, taluk administration, local MLA and other elected representatives to provide us houses, electricity, burial ground and other amenities have gone in vain.”
Meanwhile, a local leader said members of the Shillekytha fishing community are basically nomads and they won’t live in a particular place for long. It is because of this reason that they have been deprived of basic amenities.