COVID-19 menace: Cremation grounds, cemeteries bear the brunt as casualties rise

As the country is reeling under the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, bodies of COVID patients piling up at cremation grounds and cemeteries have become a nightmare for the authorities. The condition in states like Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh has become bad to worst.

Hyderabad: As citizens are grappling with the second wave of COVID-19 in the country, the scenes emerging from cremation grounds to cemeteries are quite frightening.

There is no let-up in deaths being caused by the deadly virus and no one would have ever thought of such fearful sights at cremation grounds and cemeteries.

This year the crematoriums and burial grounds in many states witness bodies lined up for cremation or burial. Such sights were not visible during last year's COVID outbreak.

Most of the bodies reaching the cremation grounds are of COVID patients. However, questions are also being raised that if deaths are being caused by some other diseases as well.

Going by the number of bodies being cremated at cremation grounds, people are also questioning the government data on the number of deaths being caused due to COVID-19.

ETV Bharat did ground reporting on the mismatch between bodies arriving for the last rites and the number of deaths being reported by the governments.

Today we will take you through some of those unexplored areas where you will see how COVID-19 victims are denied dignity in death.

• GUJARAT

MELTING CREMATORIUMS OF GUJRAT

Amid the second wave, the number of new positive cases and deaths are continuously increasing in Gujarat. Surat is among the most affected cities.

The visuals from crematoriums in Surat have revealed shocking scenes. It seems that the process of burning pyre in the cremation grounds here has not stopped for long.

The situation has become such alarming that the furnace of the crematorium is burning bodies unabated due to which metal furnaces and chimneys made for burning pyre have started melting.

There are six gas-fired furnaces at Kurukshetra crematorium in Surat, which are burning round the clock these days.

According to the cremation management team, last year about 20 bodies were cremated here, but this time this figure has increased five times.

The furnace of the crematorium is continuously burning, as a result, some furnaces need to be repaired.

The temperature of these furnaces has to be raised to around 600 degrees for the cremation of the body. These furnaces and chimneys have been built to withstand this temperature but these days these furnaces and chimneys are also unable to bear the heat of the continuous cremation of bodies.

JCBs DIGGING THE GRAVES

The condition of the cemeteries of Surat is not different from the crematoriums.

Here, five times the dead bodies are being handed over as against the normal days. The situation is such that instead of labourers, JCBs are digging the graves.

Actually, the labourers take two to three hours to dig a grave, but these days the process of the arrival of dead bodies for burial in the graveyard is so fast and frequent that the JCBs have to be engaged.

The labourers digging graves in the graveyard have also become crestfallen as the arrival of dead bodies has gone up four to five times more as compared to normal time.

As many as 25 graves have already been dug at Morabhagal cemetery in Surat and about 25 more are in the line.

BODY REMNANTS WAIT FOR LOVED ONES

The last rites of dead bodies are being done in the crematorium, but after the last rites, relatives seldom come to take the ashes for immersion. Pots of ashes and bones are kept at the Khedi crematorium in Vadodara.

After the infection, people first make a distance from the patients and after death, the family makes a distance from the body too.

The funeral is also mostly attended by the people of the Muktidham or the people of the administration.

• MADHYA PRADESH

Cremation Getting Expensive:

The COVID-19 is wreaking havoc in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh.

Many bodies are being cremated daily in the city’s crematorium and cemetery. The last journey of the deceased has also become an expensive affair. An amount of Rs 3,500 is being charged for the funeral who die of COVID, whereas, charges for the rest of the other funerals are Rs 3,100.

At least 60 to 70 dead bodies reach the Bhadbhada cremation ground in Bhopal every day and cremations are done as per the protocols in place for the COVID-19 deaths. The same situation is at cemeteries as well where the gravediggers are working round the clock.

Since more and more bodies are arriving for cremations, the work of digging the graves is being done by the JCBs in Bhopal too and the graves are being dug in advance.

Half Burnt Bodies

In the Chhindwara district, the COVID infection is taking a formidable form. It can be gauged from the fact that till last week, more than 450 containment zones were declared in the district.

Meanwhile, at a cremation ground here, half-burnt bodies were seen being devoured by birds and dogs.

These visuals have raised many questions about the mismanagement of cremation grounds. These visuals are testimony to the fact that the current phase of the COVID is exposing serious chinks in our system.

Funeral Tokens

The token system for cremation has been started in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore after a surge in deaths due to COVID. As per the token rule, the family of the deceased first contacts the management and then reaches ‘Muktidham’ for the cremation at the given time.

Bribe For Cremation

In Gwalior, a case has been reported where Municipal Corporation employees were taking a bribe to allow the cremation.

The cremation of the dead is absolutely free from the Municipal Corporation, according to the family members of the victim, a cleaning worker at the crematorium ground demanded Rs 8,000 to cremate the body. After negotiating, he asked for Rs 6,000 and then finally agreed on Rs 4,000.

After the matter was exposed, the district administration has issued instructions to set up a help desk at the crematorium so that any act of corruption is strictly dealt with.

Cremation Ghats Not Enough

In Vidisha district, the cremation ghats are not enough due to which the last rites are also being performed in the open space too.

Now the process has been started to make 10 new temporary cremation grounds by the district administration. Apart from this, temporary cremation grounds will be set up at three different places in the city as well.

Relations Being Put To Test

Amid the COVID menace, even family members hesitate to perform the last rites of their near and dear ones due to fear of getting infected.

In Indore’s Rambagh Muktidham, neither any family member came to the funeral of any dead nor came to take the ashes, but some relatives come to take the jewellery items of the dead, thus shaming humanity and relationships as well.

• CHHATTISGARH

The healthcare infrastructure in Chhattisgarh, which is among the ten most COVID-19 affected states in the country, is reeling under the pressure of surging cases and deaths.

Bodies Ferried In Garbage Vans

In what can be described as an insult to the dead, a garbage van was used to ferry bodies of COVID patients in Dongargaon block of Rajnandgaon district.

The city panchayat and Health Department are giving their respective arguments on this whole matter.

The Health Department is blaming the Nagar Panchayat for this, stating the Nagar Panchayat does not have its own vehicle to carry dead bodies due to which the body was transported to the crematorium in a garbage pickup vehicle.

A pile of wood in the crematorium

In Chhattisgarh, the second wave of COVID-19 has hit the Durg district the most.

The cremation grounds are giving testimony to the increasing death toll here. These days more than 50 corpses are being cremated at ‘Muktidham’ of Durg district.

In view of this, arrangements for the wood have been made and heaps of wood are seen outside the ‘Muktidham.’

The wooden stacks of 20 to 30 feet are a testimony to the terrible situation there. Seeing the cremations taking place on a daily basis, a funeral pyre has been prepared in advance at ‘Muktidham.’

It has been reported that money also gets demanded at ‘Muktidham’ for the cremation of the body if the death has happened due to COVID.

Overall, there is a frightening scene from the crematoriums to cemeteries during this COVID-19 crisis.

In the midst of all this, humanity is dying as well. The relationships are going for a toss. In other places, the fear of COVID-19 and the negligence of the administration are making the situation even much more difficult.