The ‘Sambala’ is now a household name in Sambalpur for service to the society. It has cremated 350th unclaimed body at Rajghat of Sambalpur town on Saturday in presence of MLA Sambalpur Dr Raseswari Panigrahi and Utkal Marwari Sammelan president Ashok Jalan.
From picking up helpless poor to decomposed bodies, the members handled it all smoothly without any hesitation. For its selfless service, the outfit has been felicitated by several organisations and institutions.
The journey started on October 30, 2011 when two youths, Subrat Panda and Ramdas Panda, were returning home from a picnic party. While crossing the Burla bridge, they spotted a dog running with a fresh human bone. They got down and on searching, they found that it belonged to one of the unclaimed bodies discarded on the bank of the Mahandi river near Lakhmidungri, where animals fed freely on mortal remains. They brought it to the Rajghat crematorium for last rites.
Later, the same youths with their friends worked tirelessly to help the flood victims when hundreds of people were displaced from their marooned homes. They feel that an organization was essential with proper name for all purposes. So, they formed the Sambala and later registered it under the Societies Act.
The Sambala, primarily focuses on the cremation of unclaimed bodies. The word Sambala came from the name of Ma Samaleswari, the presiding deity of Sambalpur. The voluntary organization operates from a rented house in Badbazar, near the Samaleswari temple with more than 100 members ready to work for any social causes.
“We are very happy that we have cremated 350 poor, helpless and unclaimed bodies. Our boys are ready for cremation of fresh to decomposed bodies,” Subrat told.
“We feel proud that from picking up decomposed bodies to bodies that have been reduced to a skeleton, all that we have handled with smiling faces,” said Ramdas Panda while narrating his experience during these days. To carry bodies, Sambalpur MP Nagendra Pradhan has donated a body carrier van to the organisation from his MPLAD fund.
When asked about the fund for cremation, Subrat said till cremation of 76 bodies, they collected money from among them. Later people started providing help for the social cause.
Apart from cremation work, the Sambala members are also involved in various other social activities like flood relief operation, eye donation, blood donation, health camps, plantation programme and hygiene in the city. It has created a record of collecting more than 500 units of blood in a single day in a camp. The outfit has also helped poor patients by arranging blood.
It organises a mass ‘shraddha’, besides a feast in the memory of the dead every year inviting hundreds of people.
Reacting to the activities of the Sambala , local MLA Dr Raseswari Panigrahi, who is also an advisor of the voluntary organization, said, “ I am proud of the boys. They are dedicated and doing a selfless service to the society.”