Puri, Sept 12: Cremation services at Swargadwar in Puri were disrupted for several hours on Friday after the crematorium ran out of firewood, leaving grieving families waiting for hours to perform the last rites of their loved ones.
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The shortage brought cremations to a halt from around 6 pm until 9:45 pm. Families accompanying the bodies expressed anger and frustration over the administrative arrangements at the crematorium.
By around 10 pm, cremations had resumed after a tractor carrying firewood reached Swargadwar at approximately 9:45 pm. The delay, however, had already resulted in a long queue of bodies awaiting cremation.
Sources said that more than 80 bodies had arrived at Swargadwar by 10 pm, while over 25 bodies were reportedly waiting to be cremated amid a shortage of both firewood and cremation platforms.
The situation reportedly triggered heated exchanges between relatives of the deceased and Swargadwar staff. While the staff blamed the Forest Department, which supplies the firewood, families questioned the lack of adequate arrangements to ensure uninterrupted cremation services.
Among those affected were people who claimed to have close connections with senior officials. A person identifying himself as a close relative of the Puri District Collector reportedly informed senior authorities after witnessing the disruption. Similarly, a close relative of a police officer also faced the situation and expressed dissatisfaction.
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Some families, anticipating a possible shortage based on previous incidents, had brought firewood from Brahmagiri. As a result, one cremation could reportedly be carried out during the period when the regular supply at Swargadwar was unavailable.
This is not the first such disruption at the crematorium. On August 4, a similar firewood shortage reportedly prevented the cremation of more than 30 bodies, with families forced to wait for over three hours.
The recurrence of the problem within two months has raised serious questions over the preparedness and administrative management of Swargadwar. Despite the earlier incident, the shortage of firewood once again left grieving families waiting for hours before they could perform the final rites of their loved ones.
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