To perform the last rites, the family had to cross the canal to reach the cremation site.
Andhra Pradesh was hit by heavy rains after a low depression area was formed over the Bay of Bengal. Amid heavy showers, a family in the state’s Chittoor district crossed a canal to complete the last rites of a man.
Fifty-three-year-old Shankar from Kasturi Nayudu Kandriga in Chittoor, died yesterday. Very heavy rainfall was predicted over the state by the weather department. To perform the last rites, the family had to cross the canal to reach the cremation site.
Holding the bier on their shoulders, the man’s family and people from his village waded through waist-deep water. Two men stayed ahead, directing the rest who were holding the bier. A man was seen holding an earthen pot in his hand for the cremation.
The villagers have demanded a bridge be built to prevent such difficulties in the future.
The well-marked low-pressure area over the southwest and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal moved west to northwestwards and intensified into a depression on Tuesday evening, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The IMD had forecast vigorous monsoon activity in coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam on Tuesday, with fairly widespread rainfall distribution.
The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) noted that parts of West Godavari, Eluru, Krishna and NTR districts were likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Tuesday.
It had also predicted a similar weather pattern for Guntur, Bapatla, Palnadu, Prakasam, Nellore, Nandyala, Annamayya, Chittoor, Tirupati and Kurnool districts.