CUTTACK: Grieving families are facing major inconvenience to perform last rites of their loved ones, especially in the rainy season, due to failure of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) in making the newly-constructed shed at Kaliaboda cremation ground operational.
Forced to perform funeral rites in the open during rain, one such family on Wednesday afternoon was seen trying to cover the burning pyre with the mat used in the bier at the cremation ground, the video of which went viral on social media.
Sources said after the death of an elderly woman of Machhua Bazaar locality, family members brought her body to Kaliaboda cremation ground. As the old cremation shed is dilapidated and covered with wild vegetation, they started to perform the last rites in the open.
But a few moments later, it started raining. To protect the flame from getting doused by the showers, family members stood on both sides holding the mat over the pyre.
Sources said the unfortunate incident could have been avoided had the new cremation shed been made operational by the CMC. The new shed has facility for cremation of two bodies at a time. Though the old shed can cremate three bodies at a time, it is lying in a dilapidated condition due to lack of maintenance.
Locals said in the monsoon season, some families are forced to leave half-burnt bodies after the flame of the pyre gets extinguished in rainwater. “A few days back, a dog was found eating a half-burnt body at the cremation ground. Due to lack of proper maintenance, bushes and creepers have grown up to chest height on the premises of Kaliaboda cremation ground. The CMC should properly maintain it and provide basic requirements for decent cremation of bodies,” said a local. Mayor Subhas Singh, however, said there is no restriction on cremating bodies at the newly-constructed cremation shed. He claimed people are preferring to cremate bodies in the open instead of using the cremation shed.