Odisha flood water

NEW DELHI: The body of a 61-year-old man in Odisha’s Jajpur district remained on the rooftop of his flooded home for nearly 18 hours as rising waters prevented his family from bringing him down for his last rites, relatives said on Friday.The incident took place in Chintasahi under Bari panchayat, where several families have remained surrounded by floodwaters for six days following the swelling of the Brahmani and Kharasrota rivers.The deceased, Hrushikesh Mallik, died around 4.30pm on Wednesday. With nearly four feet of water inundating the ground floor of the house, his family kept his body on the rooftop until the water receded on Thursday.

‘Received no help from administration’News agency PTI reported that relatives repeatedly sought help from the local administration to take the body out for the last rites but received no assistance.“We repeatedly called the Bari Block Development Officer (BDO) for administrative assistance for the last rites of my uncle, but the calls were not answered,” said Anil Mallik, the deceased’s nephew.He said the family then approached a powerboat operator involved in rescue operations, but the operator told them he could not reach the village without instructions from senior authorities.A local social worker eventually arranged a hearse. Villagers carried the body through waist-deep water for nearly a kilometre as the road from the house remained submerged.The incident has sparked anger among residents, who alleged that hundreds of families in Chintasahi have been forced to remain on rooftops for the past six days with limited access to food.