The body of an elderly man in Odisha’s Jajpur district remained on the rooftop of his house for nearly 18 hours as rising floodwaters prevented his family from bringing it down for last rites, relatives claimed on Friday.
The family alleged that despite informing the local administration and seeking assistance to take the body out for the last rites, they did not receive any help. A local social worker later arranged a hearse to transport the body for cremation. “No one has informed me about the incident. The incident has triggered anger among residents, who alleged that hundreds of families in Chintasahi had been forced to stay on rooftops without adequate access to cooked food for the past six days.
His family kept the body on the rooftop as the ground floor of the house was submerged under nearly four feet of water, relatives said. The family could hardly find dry land to conduct the cremation and eventually took the body to Jajpur district headquarters for the last rites, they said. The nodal officer of Bari panchayat has been asked to provide financial assistance under Harischandra Yojana and other facilities to the family of the deceased for the last rites,” Jagdev said.
When the water level receded on Thursday, the family brought the body down. I learned about it from a local scribe on Friday afternoon.
