Damoh villagers risk lives for funerals as missing bridge forces six‑hour home storage of a corpse

Residents of Tugra Mohalla in Singrampur, Damoh district, are forced to confront hazardous conditions when conducting last rites because the local river lacks a crossing bridge. After a recent death, strong currents made it impossible to transport the body across the water, so family members kept the corpse inside their house for nearly six hours before a makeshift arrangement could be made.

The prolonged indoor storage was driven by the urgent need to prevent the body from being swept away, a risk that has become common in the area where no permanent bridge exists. Villagers reported that they had to wade through fast‑moving water, exposing themselves to potential drowning while trying to move the deceased to a burial site.

Local authorities have been urged to prioritize the construction of a bridge or provide temporary crossing solutions to ensure that future funerary processes do not endanger lives. The incident underscores the broader infrastructural gaps affecting rural communities in Madhya Pradesh.