Concern from Lucknow locals over bodies burned in open space close to homes amid Covid fear

The burning of dead bodies at an open ‘cremation ground’ in front of their homes has alarmed the residents of Lucknow’s LDA community.

In Lucknow’s LDA colony, Jankipuram Sector J, under Gudamba police station, is where the aforementioned ‘cremation ground’ is situated.

Local resident Mukesh Shukla told UP Tak that ‘although the vacant space was originally referred to as a park when the LDA allocated the house there, it is now a crematorium where remains are burned.’

According to the locals, bodies were burned in this open space during the Covid era, and now that the new Covid variation has raised worries once more, the locals are worried for their safety.

70-year-old Kripa Shankar Tripathi says,’ when bodies are set on fire outdoors, neighbours cease cooking in their homes.’ Sunil Srivastava, another resident, claimed that the pollution brought on by the burning corpses forces the colony’s youngsters to spend days indoors.

The locals have been calling for the crematorium to be relocated. Our objections are not being taken seriously by higher authorities or the administration, says Brijesh Gupta, a resident of Jankipuram. ‘We met with Rajnath Singh, the Lucknow MP, and the vice-chancellor of the LDA, but nothing was fixed,’ he continued.

The cremation ground was misrepresented by the Lucknow Development Authority as a park, which resulted the residents being duped.