Tension in Nirakarpur over cremation ground

Khurda: Tension ran high in Nirakarpur market area under Tangi tehsil in the district on Sunday morning over cremation of a minor boy’s body.

Relatives of the deceased staged a road blockade on Nua Jagannath Sadak over the incident which was lifted after the district administration assured the villagers to resolve the issue within three days by Wednesday.

Trouble started area after the relatives had taken the body of an 11-year-old boy to the cremation ground on the outskirts of Nirakarpur market this morning. But they could not cremate the body as the owner of the land refused them.

Following the incident, people held protests on Nua Jagannath Sadak and demanded allotment of land for a permanent cremation ground. The irate locals and kin of the deceased prepared a pyre on the road before the Revenue office and staged a road blockade. Vehicular traffic came to a grinding halt for nearly five hours due to the blockade.

Following information, one platoon of police force rushed to the spot. Later on the district administration intervened in the matter and advised the locals to perform last rites of the body on the private land till a permanent place is allotted for the same. The cremation was later held at the private land after the administration assured the locals for a talk on the issue scheduled for Wednesday.

Talking to media persons, Sudarsan Sethi and Hrushikesh Routray of the locality said since the present cremation ground is a stitiban plot, the owner of the land has been restraining the villagers not to cremate body on his land. “The original cremation ground earmarked by the administration is presently encroached by a group of people who are not permitting us to cremate bodies there. As the administration has paid deaf ear to our repeated requests, we decided to cremate the body on the road”, they added.

Asked about the steps the administration will take in this regard, Tangi tehsildar Panchanan Patnaik said he will take up the matter with the collector and sub collector tentatively by Wednesday to find a permanent solution to the issue.

He further said as per records there is no encroachment of cremation ground. “The fact remains that a private plot which is adjacent to the cremation ground has asked the people not to cremate bodies near his land. We will call up the locals and the land owner for a meeting to finalise the location were the cremation would be performed”, he pointed out.

Notably, a similar incident had occurred at Sundarpur area in Tangi tehsil last year after the people of Jhansipatna village of Bhusandapur block had cremated a body inside the Revenue office premises as a mark of protest.