Tractor carrying body to cremation gets stuck in water, delays funeral in MP's Burhanpur

INDORE: A funeral procession in Mandwa village in Burhanpur district turned into a harrowing experience when the tractor carrying the body of a woman for her last rites got stuck in water near a narrow culvert.A video of the incident, showing villagers struggling to pull out the tractors, emerged on Wednesday and has since gone viral on social media. The culvert, too small to support large vehicles, forced the villagers to cross the flooded stream on foot, causing major inconvenience and delaying the cremation.The villagers, frustrated by years of neglect, said the poor condition of the road and culvert makes it nearly impossible to access the cremation ground, especially during the monsoon.Akalsingh Solanki, a resident of Mandwa, was transporting his mother’s body to the cremation ground on Tuesday. Along with another tractor carrying wood for the funeral, both vehicles got trapped due to waterlogged conditions and the culvert’s poor structure. Villagers had to struggle for hours to free the vehicles and continue the journey. The villagers even had to unload the cremation wood and carry from the tractor trolley to reduce its weight and manually pull it out of the water.Locals say this is not the first time they’ve faced such difficulties. The 4–5 km road connecting Nepanagar to Mandwa has long been a challenge, especially during monsoons. In cases of medical emergencies or deaths, the poor condition of the culvert causes major hardships.The only alternate route to reach the village is a 15-km-long dirt road, which becomes extremely muddy and nearly impassable in the rainy season. The villagers said that even ambulances are unable to reach the village due to the poor condition of the road. Nepanagar JAYS block vice president and a resident of the village, Master Rawat, who had made the video, demanded swift action. “Construction of a proper culvert must begin within the next seven days. If not, villagers will be compelled to gherao the Collector’s office. The administration will be held responsible,” Rawat told TOI.