Rourkela: Volunteers and locals staged a five-hour protest outside the divisional forest officer’s residence in Sundargarh on Sunday evening over the alleged unavailability of firewood for cremating two murder victims.
The bodies of Bilasini Suar (45) and her mother Rukmani Bhainsal (60), who were allegedly killed by the former’s nephew Ratnakar Suar (25) in Gad Tumlia village on Saturday, could not be cremated for hours, apparently due to the lack of firewood at the crematorium.
Following the post-mortem on Sunday, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Nirmal Mohapatra contacted volunteer Sidhanta Panda to assist with the cremation of the victims. However, the volunteers’ search for firewood proved futile, leading them to approach DFO Pradeep Mirase for assistance.
Despite the DFO asking them to check the Itma depot, some 20 km away, the required wood was not available. The protest was finally lifted around 11 pm after the divisional manager of Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC), Jharsuguda, arranged for the necessary firewood. The cremation was conducted around 12:30 am on Monday.
“It’s surprising that Sundargarh lacks basic cremation facilities. The DFO should ensure continuous availability of firewood,” said Panda.
DFO Mirase clarified that maintaining firewood stock falls under OFDC’s jurisdiction. “Land has been earmarked near the crematorium for a depot, but OFDC Jharsuguda hasn’t established one yet,” Mirase said. Following the incident, a truckload of firewood was delivered to a private depot in Sundargarh on Monday.
P K Behera, divisional manager, OFDC, Jharsuguda, said he has taken up the issue on utmost priority. “We will try to set up a depot at the earmarked place in Sundargarh at the earliest so that people will get wood for cremation purposes smoothly,” said Behera.