COVID-19 update | Crematoriums, burial grounds working overtime as bodies pile up

Representative image | Source: AP

With the country registering 1,61,736 new coronavirus infections and 879 new fatalities in past 24 hours, India's tally reached to 1,36,89,453 on April 13. However, reports arrived that crematoriums and burial grounds are working overtime to cope with the surging number of deaths.

Local media reports have said that melting furnaces at crematoriums are running non-stop to deal with the fatalities that rose in past few days. In Surat, families are even seen waiting for hours two to three hours to cremate the bodies of their relatives.

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"Earlier 15 to 20 bodies were coming in a day and now around 80 to 100 dead bodies are coming daily", Bloomberg quoted president of a trust operating a crematorium in Surat -- Kamlesh Sailor -- as saying.

"We can’t afford to have long queues of people at the crematorium, as that again increases the risk of spreading infection. The situation is likely to worsen going ahead as hospitals across the city are filled to capacity," he added.

Among the major concerns that experts cite is under-reporting fatalities especially in rural places. They say that only about 20-30 percent of all deaths in the country are properly medically certified. Fear of people migrating to villages from cities in large numbers has also grown with the rise in COVID-19 cases numbers. Similar situation was observed last year, when people migrated to villages and a chaos took place.

Crematoriums in metros like Delhi and Mumbai are also facing surge in fatalities. "There was a lull period in January and February with a much lower number of Covid deaths, but now in the last three weeks it is overflowing," the business website quoted Antim Yatra CEO Namrata Singh as saying.

Largest burial ground and cremation centres reported an average of 8-9 Covid deaths a day in the national capital. Citing the rise in dead bodies, North Delhi Municipal Corporation mayor Jai Prakash said they have made provision to increase the number of wood pyres and have also planned for additional manpower at Nigambodh Ghat.

Meanwhile, High Court in Gujarat asked the state government on Monday for a report in two days and urged to take quick measures to deal with the growing health crisis.