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Sultanpur Lodhi: Cremation ground flooded, family forced to perform last rites of woman in backyard
Jarnail Singh, a farmer leader, said this is for the first time in the history of floods in the mand area that a family was left with no option but to cremate the body in the compound of their house.
With floodwater submerging large parts of Sultanpur Lodhi for over 45 days, the family of 75-year-old Gurnam Kaur had to perform her last rites in the backyard of their house in Sangra village, Kapurthala, after she died on Thursday following a brief illness.
Sangra village was among the worst-affected villages along with Mand Mubarakpur, Muhammadabad, Baupur Kadim, Baupur Jadid, Rampur Gura, Mand Bandu Jadid, Bhaini Karim Baksh, and Bhaini Bahadur, with the swollen Beas continuing to wreak havoc in these areas since August 10.
Gurnam’s son, Nishan Singh, said the cremation ground of the village is submerged under water, and initially they planned to take his mother’s dead body to Sultanpur Lodhi via boats.
“But the villagers offered a chunk of land to perform her last rites. We decided to cremate her body in the backyard of our house, with the villagers bringing dry wood via boats,” he said, adding that the trauma of the flood itself proved fatal for her.
Jarnail Singh, a farmer leader, said this is for the first time in the history of floods in the mand area that a family was left with no option but to cremate the body in the compound of their house.
Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal provided boats to the victims’ relatives to reach Sangra village to pay condolences.
Beas flow recorded at 1.16lakh cusecs
The Beas river continued to rise and recorded a flow of 1.16 lakh cusecs at Kapurthala’s Dhilwan gauge against 1.13 lakh cusecs on Thursday.
Built over the Beas river, the Pong dam’s reservoir recorded a water level of 1,394.29ft on Friday.
According to official data, the inflows into the Pong dam came down to 37,192 cusecs from 52,313 cusecs on Thursday. The Bhakra Beas Management Board continued the controlled release of 59,789 cusecs through its spillway gates and turbines downstream into the Beas river.
