Fed up with carrying the bodies for over 2 km and trudging through two canals to reach their burial ground, residents of Hanumanthandalam Colony, a Dalit settlement in Uthiramerur taluk of Kancheepuram district, want an alternative pathway.
“There is no road. We walk through casuarina plantations, fields, thorny stretches, and the two water channels that carry water to the Uthiramerur lake. Every time someone dies, we shudder when we think of walking through that route. If it rains, it is even worse. The channels are nearly 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide and do not have any bridge. We place the bodies on ladders and people swim across the channel and throw over ropes to pull the ladders,” said S. Sridhar, a resident.
Though the burial ground that was earmarked by the government can be accessed via the Hanumanthandalam village, residents of the colony do not take that route as they faced issues due to caste differences.
Baskar, another resident, said that some officials had visited the village a few months ago and had promised a proper route to the burial ground.
“No vehicle can use the present route. After 16 days of the burial, the relatives must go again for rituals and have to walk for four hours through a laborious route,” he said.
Many petitions given
Kancheepuram District Collector Kalaiselvi Mohansaid the administration had been receiving many petitions from various villages.
“We have made a list of 15 such locations and are focusing on providing them with a proper way to the respective burial grounds,” she added.
