Urns with ashes pile up at Chhattisgarh crematorium amid lockdown

Amid a nationwide lockdown in the wake of the outbreak of coronavirus disease, urns containing ashes of all those cremated before the curbs were put in place are piling up at ‘Muktidham’ crematorium in Durg district of Chhattisgarh.

Durg: Urns containing ashes are piling up in a crematorium called ‘Muktidham’ in Durg district of Chhattisgarh as the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus disease has barred people from immersing them in a river.

“Urns containing the ashes of all those cremated over the past 20 days are piled up at the cremation ground as their relatives have not been able to immerse their ashes in the Ganges, or the Yamuna river because of the lockdown,“ a local resident told ETV Bharat.

The 'Ramnagar’ Muktidham - the largest crematorium in the city of Bhilai - has more than 50 urns or ‘asthi kalash’ lying in its lockers.

These urns contain the ashes of those unfortunate souls whose were cremated on March 22 or before - before the lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With no public transportation available and private vehicles requiring special permits to ply on the road and the need to maintain a safe ‘social distance’, relatives of the deceased are having a harrowing time completing their funerary rituals.