<p>NR Pura/DHNS: Residents of Ravoor village under the Menasuru Gram Panchayat limits are faced with a grim situation whenever anyone dies in the village. There is no burial ground in the village, forcing them to take the body far away to cremate. But, their woes get worse, especially during monsoon. They will have to carry the body on a coracle across the backwaters of the Bhadra reservoir to be cremated at Nadugadde. </p><p>The village is home to over 600 people from more than 150 families of the Shillekyata community, who depend mainly on fishing.</p><p><strong>Village submerges</strong></p><p>Situated along the banks of the Bhadra backwaters, the entire village gets submerged during the monsoon when the dam fills up.With no cremation ground allotted, whenever someone dies, the body must be ferried about one kilometer on a coracle to the islet in the middle of the backwaters for the last rites. </p><p>However, during monsoon, their struggle doubled - when graves are dug on the islet, water seeps in immediately, filling the pit.</p><p>Cremations must be carried out under these conditions. Whenever water level rises during monsoon, they are faced with tough task to identify the past cremation sites. Eventually, forcing the villagers, sometimes, to dig at the same spot to conduct another cremation over there, rued villagers Meghraj, Anand, and Ratnakar.</p><p>Residents’ repeated appeal to MLAs, tahsidlars and gram panchayats to sanction a cremation land have fell on deaf ears. </p><p>“For the past 15–20 years we have been requesting authorities to allot site. Earlier, a plot was identified in the Hale Makodu limits, but it was<br>sanctioned to the Tourism Department, and we were left without a cremation ground.</p><p><strong>One acre of land sought</strong></p><p>The islet in the Bhadra backwaters falls within the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary limits. If just one acre is sanctioned within our village limits, it would solve the problem,” appealed Menasuru Gram Panchayat member Annappa. </p><p>Tahsildar Nurul Huda said spetition submitted by Ravoor villagers to the Revenue Department seeking a land for cremation would be examined and action would be taken.</p>
<p>NR Pura/DHNS: Residents of Ravoor village under the Menasuru Gram Panchayat limits are faced with a grim situation whenever anyone dies in the village. There is no burial ground in the village, forcing them to take the body far away to cremate. But, their woes get worse, especially during monsoon. They will have to carry the body on a coracle across the backwaters of the Bhadra reservoir to be cremated at Nadugadde. </p><p>The village is home to over 600 people from more than 150 families of the Shillekyata community, who depend mainly on fishing.</p><p><strong>Village submerges</strong></p><p>Situated along the banks of the Bhadra backwaters, the entire village gets submerged during the monsoon when the dam fills up.With no cremation ground allotted, whenever someone dies, the body must be ferried about one kilometer on a coracle to the islet in the middle of the backwaters for the last rites. </p><p>However, during monsoon, their struggle doubled - when graves are dug on the islet, water seeps in immediately, filling the pit.</p><p>Cremations must be carried out under these conditions. Whenever water level rises during monsoon, they are faced with tough task to identify the past cremation sites. Eventually, forcing the villagers, sometimes, to dig at the same spot to conduct another cremation over there, rued villagers Meghraj, Anand, and Ratnakar.</p><p>Residents’ repeated appeal to MLAs, tahsidlars and gram panchayats to sanction a cremation land have fell on deaf ears. </p><p>“For the past 15–20 years we have been requesting authorities to allot site. Earlier, a plot was identified in the Hale Makodu limits, but it was<br>sanctioned to the Tourism Department, and we were left without a cremation ground.</p><p><strong>One acre of land sought</strong></p><p>The islet in the Bhadra backwaters falls within the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary limits. If just one acre is sanctioned within our village limits, it would solve the problem,” appealed Menasuru Gram Panchayat member Annappa. </p><p>Tahsildar Nurul Huda said spetition submitted by Ravoor villagers to the Revenue Department seeking a land for cremation would be examined and action would be taken.</p>
