Buddhist community members hold funeral on roadside, claim lack of dedicated crematorium

Latur: Members of the Buddhist community held a funeral along a state highway in Maharashtra’s Latur district on Sunday, claiming they do not have a dedicated crematorium.

The protest funeral at Pandharwadi village of Shirur Anantpal tehsil blocked traffic on the busy Udgir-Latur road for an hour, officials said.

Pandharwadi, a village under Yerol Gram Panchayat, is part of a group panchayat that also includes Hanmantwadi and Jambhalwadi. None of these villages currently has a crematorium ground for the Buddhist community, according to its members.

Yerol gram panchayat’s deputy sarpanch Satish Sindalkar told PTI that they have formally requested the tehsil administration to allocate land for a crematorium for the Buddhist community in the area.

“No suitable land is currently available within the panchayat's jurisdiction. Efforts are underway and we will soon come up with a solution in collaboration with the tehsil authorities,” he said.