With no burial ground, these villagers shift bodies in coracels to bury in Bhadra backwaters

CHIKKAMAGALUR: With no proper burial ground, residents of Ravoor Camp under Menasur gram panchayat in NR Pura taluk are forced to cross the Bhadra river backwaters in coracles and perform the last rites of the dead on the river banks.

There are about 600 people belonging to 150 Shillekyatha families who depend on fishing for their livelihood. On Saturday, a person belonging to the community had died and the villagers had to shift the body in a coracle for about 1 km to perform the last rites.

The residents of the village say that water seeps in into the grave pits and they complete the last rites by spreading a bed of leaves on the floor of the pit. There are occasions when graves of the previously dead have also been dug up, they pointed out.

During the rainy season, the water level almost reaches their houses and during the summer, the water dries up. The villagers say they have been making requests for the last 20 years for a proper cremation ground with the taluk authorities, MLAs, and gram panchayat, but to no avail. Hence, they have been burying bodies in the Bhadra backwaters, they noted.