KOZHIKODE: The crematorium at Kuriyappadam in Vallikkunnu panchayat that serves the needs of the large Hindu population in Malappuram district gets submerged in rain. The residents of the area fear that when the panchayat is split into Vallikkunnu and Ariyallur as planned, they would lack a public crematorium. Mr Pramod Chengot, an activist, says that the crematorium becomes non-functional during rainy season as it is a marshy land. "Poor Hindus need public crematoriums, but they are ignored by political parties. Once the panchayat is split into two, the people Ariyallur, the new panchayat, will not have a single public crematorium," he said.
"Nowadays, people of even rural areas have five cents of land or less than that. So they have to depend on public burial land or crematoriums. Since the other communities have burial lands close to mosques and churches, the issue affects the Hindu community mostly," Mr Pramod said. The people from the coastal area are also affected due to lack of a burial ground or crematorium. There is no systematic approach to the maintenance of the crematoriums also once they are installed.
