Hamirpur (Himachal Pradesh): Shantanu Anoop Kumar of Hamirpur cremates unclaimed dead bodies and immerses their ashes in Haridwar. But the corona infection and lockdown have proved to be a hindrance in the way of his work of helping people get Moksha.
Amid the lockdown, Shantanu was unable to take the ashes of 6 people to Haridwar to immerse in the river Ganges. Shantanu, a resident of Kolkata, has a garment shop in Hamirpur which was closed for more than 2 months during the lockdown.
Due to the sinking business went sinking and unavailability of the buses, taking the ashes of 6 people to Haridwar is costing him a lot. In such a situation, Shantanu is expecting the Government to help him reach Haridwar or else he will have to immerse the ashes in a holy place nearby.
According to Anoop Kumar, in nearly the past three decades, he has saved 1108 unclaimed dead bodies, cremated many unclaimed corpses found throughout the state and then immersed their ashes in the River Ganges.
Not only this, but Anoop Kumar also performs Shraadh for them once a year. The Himachal government has also honoured Shantanu and he had received around 25 awards at the State and National level but in this time of financial crisis, there is no help provided to him by the government.
Anoop used to go to Haridwar via bus so he has asked the government for bus pass facility to go to Haridwar, but in vain.
Following the lockdown relaxation too, interstate bus facilities are not available. It will cost him somewhere between 12 to 15 thousand if he has to take a private vehicle all the way to Haridwar in order to immerse the ashes of these people in the Ganges. This is impossible for him at this time of financial crisis, hence he is waiting for help from the Government.
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