New Delhi: Lockdown, imposed to combat deadly coronavirus, seems to have slowed down the overall death rate in the national capital as the number of bodies brought to cremation grounds on day-to-day basis have gone down dramatically.
According to the officials and workers, attending to bodies at Panchkuian Road cremation ground here, the lockdown has affected cremation grounds across the city in more than one ways.
"The first thing that is being experienced at all cremation grounds is the shortage of woods, used to cremate the body," a worker told ETV Bharat.
He said woods could not reach to the cremation grounds because of the restrictions on the movement of vehicles in view of the coronavirus threat.
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"Four quintals of woods are needed to cremate a body properly but we are now providing only three and a half quintal because of the shortage," a cremation ground official informed.
He said it's a 'difficult situation' but with the number of the dead going down during the lockdown has provided much-needed respite in the situation.
One of the reasons for it could be the lesser number or no road accidents at all during the lockdown.
Earlier, five to eight bodies would be brought for cremation at the Panchkuian Road cremation ground every day but the number of bodies has gone down after the lockdown was imposed, they said.
"Now-a-days, we get one or two bodies in a day," they said, adding that there are days when they don't get even one.
Cremation grounds such as Nigambodh Ghat, Punjabi Bagh, Lodhi Road, Sarai Kale Khan and others have witnessed 30 to 40 per cent drop in the bodies being brought there for a funeral during the lockdown, imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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