📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Rangan Datta Wiki
Religion
Families wade through 4‑foot flood at Lal Darwaza cremation ground in Munger as electric crematorium stays shut
✍️ Amar Ujala · Bihar
🗓 30 Aug 2026, 08:18 PM
👁 3
Heavy rains have caused the Ganga water to rise to about four feet at Munger’s Lal Darwaza cremation ground, forcing relatives to carry bodies through waist‑deep water, while the municipal electric crematorium has been out of service for nearly three weeks.
The Ganga’s overflow has inundated the Lal Darwaza cremation ground in Munger, Bihar, with water reaching roughly four feet in depth. The surge, triggered by recent heavy rainfall, has turned the burial site into a shallow lake, compelling mourners to navigate waist‑deep water to reach the ghats.
Families arriving for last rites now have to carry the deceased on wooden planks or stretchers across the flooded area, a task that is both physically demanding and emotionally taxing. The waterlogged conditions have also delayed the preparation of the bodies and the performance of traditional rituals.
Compounding the hardship, the municipal electric crematorium, which normally handles a large share of the city’s cremations, has remained non‑operational for about 20 days. The shutdown has forced relatives to rely on open‑air pyres, further straining an already stressed system.
Local officials have been urged to expedite repairs to the crematorium and to improve drainage at the cremation ground, but no concrete timeline has been announced yet. The combined effect of flooding and the crematorium’s closure continues to burden grieving families in the region.
Families arriving for last rites now have to carry the deceased on wooden planks or stretchers across the flooded area, a task that is both physically demanding and emotionally taxing. The waterlogged conditions have also delayed the preparation of the bodies and the performance of traditional rituals.
Compounding the hardship, the municipal electric crematorium, which normally handles a large share of the city’s cremations, has remained non‑operational for about 20 days. The shutdown has forced relatives to rely on open‑air pyres, further straining an already stressed system.
Local officials have been urged to expedite repairs to the crematorium and to improve drainage at the cremation ground, but no concrete timeline has been announced yet. The combined effect of flooding and the crematorium’s closure continues to burden grieving families in the region.