Alappuzha: There is no end to the hardships faced by the people in the low-lying areas of the Alappuzha district.

An elderly man in Thalavady, who died following a road accident, had a watery grave after his family was forced to conduct his last rites in the house compound marooned in flood waters.

C N Gopi (72), a native of Ward 2, Thalavady, was grievously injured when a pickup van hit him while he was crossing the road near Tiruvalla private bus stand on June 29. He was admitted to the Kottayam Medical College in a serious condition and he breathed his last on July 7.

By then Pampa River was in spate following heavy rain and water marooned the entire locality, including his house. The transport facilities also were suspended. His family decided to keep the body in a mortuary of a private hospital, expecting the water to recede soon.

Two days passed, but the area remained waterlogged. The family could no longer afford to keep the body in the mortuary. Finally, they decided to cremate the body on the waterlogged house premise itself.

On Monday, the last rites were performed inside the house, and the body was put to flames in the waterlogged compound on a raised platform.

“Bricks were laid to raise a platform and a mobile cremator was placed over it. Close relatives carried the body through the flood water and placed it in the box and cremated the body,” said Thalavady block panchayat member Ajith Pisharody.

Earlier, the house was destroyed partially in the 2018 floods. Though the government allotted Rs 4 lakh under the ‘Rebuild Kerala Scheme,' the reconstruction works are yet to be completed.

Gopi is survived by his wife Lakshmi Gopi, and children Prasad and Pramodini.