Sanjay Rai Sherpuria set up a Lakdi Bank in UP's Ghazipur district to not only stop rivers from getting polluted, but also make cremation accessible to all
Sanjay Rai Sherpuria handing out free firewood from Lakdi Bank, which he set up to help people in need perform the last rites of their family members
Sanjay Rai Sherpuria, a 50-year-old social entrepreneur was in Delhi when he saw images of corpses, suspected to be infected by Covid-19, floating in the rivers of North India, or buried along their banks. He immediately shifted base to Uttar Pradesh, which was not only severely affected by the second Covid-19 wave, but also one through which many important rivers, including the Ganga, flow. He set up a Lakdi (firewood) Bank to help the poor and marginalised perform the last rites of their family members with dignity.
According to media reports, more than 2,000 bodies have been pulled out from rivers in UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh over the past two months.
“Every person, irrespective of their caste, class, colour or creed, has to be treated respectfully, even in death,” says Sherpuria. “Although the bank aims to make cremation accessible to all, as an environmentally responsible citizen it is also my duty to keep the rivers clean and care about life underwater.”
With help from the district administration, 10 firewood banks have been set up across 10 ghats (piers) in UP’s Ghazipur district. A team, comprising 46 people and more than 5,000 volunteers, provides round-the-clock assistance to people approaching them for help with cremations.
It was important to set up the bank for a number of reasons, says Sherpuria: “First, the poor cannot afford the cost of cremations. Second, families have spent a lot of money on treatments, leaving them with very few resources; and third, the cost of firewood has been hiked in many places."