A ghastly sight awaits the passerby along the Bhakhra Canal in Khanauri village on the Punjab-Haryana border.

Rotten bodies and skeletons pile up month after month as dogs and rodents have a field day devouring whatever they can. The ‘village of the dead’, as the locals call it, reeks of Government insensitivity.

People from across the state visit Khanauri village almost every day looking for their relatives, who they fear have either been murdered or drowned.

According to sources, investigations into the matter could reveal that the crime rate in Punjab could well be above the official figure as none of these cases are registered and the crimes go unnoticed. The dead floating in the waters of the canal is a common sight in villages near the Bhakhra Main Line on the Khanauri-Padarthkherhi border.

“The police keep off this place because retrieving a body from the canal would result in a long-drawn process. They would have to take responsibility of cremating the dead, lodge an FIR and settle jurisdiction issues between Punjab and Haryana,” said Gurmukh Singh, a resident of Khanauri.

“Cops are ready to intervene in a property dispute and politicians are eager to get funds for development work, but no one is bothered about the dead, who end up as a nosh for canines,” he added.

“Cremation is a privilege for those who drown in Bhakhra Canal. People from across Punjab sit here for hours and days to locate their dead kin,” said Kamikkar Singh, a farmer.

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