The incumbent wave of the pandemic is not only testing the medical infrastructure but is also positing a severe challenge to the crematories across the country. Understaffed, overworked- situation at several cremation grounds remains grim.
In Gujarat’s Surat, the metal structures of furnaces at some crematoriums have started melting or breaking due to excessive usage.
In Jharkhand’s Ranchi, people are being forced to burn the dead out in the open on the banks of Subarnarekha river in Ghaghara as crematoriums are full.
In the national capital, the main cremation ground, Nigambodh Ghat, has been running 22 platforms and six CNG-run furnaces exclusively for cremating people dying to the virus. People are still struggling to perform funeral rites due to lack of space at the facility.
In Bengaluru, the wait time for cremation has gone up to 3-4 hours. Crematoriums that would usually get 5-6 bodies a day are now getting 22-25 bodies of which 15 are covid infected.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, the municipality has ordered extra supply of wood for pyres, more electric crematoriums and employed 100 people to work in two shifts, day and night. The staff has been directed to prepare pyres at night so that there is no queue the next day.
In Chhattisgarh’s Raipur, hospitals are now running out of storage to keep the dead. At Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, bodies have been lying on gurneys outside the premises as freezers at the mortuary are full.