‘No approach road to burial ground’

Dalit residents of Peruvalappur near Lalgudi struggle to reach the burial grounds allotted to them during rainy days every year as they have to wade through a supply channel, locally called Nandi rive

Dalit residents of Peruvalappur near Lalgudi struggle to reach the burial grounds allotted to them during rainy days every year as they have to wade through a supply channel, locally called Nandi river, which passes through their village. Several requests from the people for construction of a bridge across the channel have gone unheeded.

Velusamy, a resident of the village, said that the issue was pending for the last 10 years. ‘Even last week, we waited with a body for at least two hours to cross over to the other side. Had we stepped in before, we would have all drowned,’ he said. While the burial grounds allotted for people belonging to backward classes are by the road, those for the Christian and Hindu Scheduled Castes are on the other side of the channel.

Whenever there is a death in the village, where at least 1,000 people reside, the biggest concern is if the people carrying the body would be able to cross the canal, he said. It is difficult for the pallbearers to hold the casket and walk through the water without slipping, he said.