As Pressure Mounts at Crematorium Across India, All Eyes on Preparedness in Assam

As several states in India grapple with the surging number of Covid deaths, crematoriums and burial grounds are witnessing a huge rush since the last week.

Notably, India is the world's second worst-hit nation.

Owing to Covid-19, crematoriums and burial grounds across the states are being overwhelmed with bodies and running round the clock.

The startling spike in daily cases and fatalities has not only showcased the lack of health infrastructure but also led to queuing up at crematoriums.

There are reports that metal structures at some crematoriums have started melting or breaking as they are being used round the clock due to the rush of bodies amid the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic.

With the latest wave of the pandemic, hospitals across the nation claim that the bodies of patients who have succumbed to COVID are piling up at the mortuary faster than they can be cremated.

As per reports, four major cities in Gujarat have witnessed about 25 deaths each day, although, the actual figures are much higher.

Till now, Gujarat has reported 5159 deaths.

With Covid cases and deaths touching new highs in Maharashtra, there are reports that several ambulances were lined up outside with dead bodies.

Since the last ten days, the daily tally of coronavirus cases reported in Maharashtra has reached its peak accounting to 60,000 approximately.

Notably, Pune has been the biggest contributor of new cases for any city across the nation.

Many workers in the state have also asserted that although the workload reduced in the months of February and March, more bodies had started coming daily from April.

While in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh is among the 10 most Covid-19 affected states across India.

In a tragic scenario, many health workers in Chattisgarh were seen ferrying bodies of Covid-19 infected patients for cremation in garbage vans.

Now that Assam has recorded the 18th worst hit among 20 states with the maximum number of COVID cases, many crematoriums have geared up to deal with any emergency situation in the state.

Earlier in September 2020, the two crematoriums in Ulubari and Bhootnath handled at least 12-15 dead bodies daily. There was only one person who handled 11 bodies in a single day! At that time the workers in both the crematoriums were under a lot of pressure as there was only a handful of them. Although, an electric crematorium, was built at a cost of over Rs 5 crore and inaugurated by Guwahati Development Department Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya was not quite operational when it was needed most. The electric crematorium was not used due to lack of manpower.

India registered 217,353 cases and 1185 fatalities due to the infection in the last 24 hours, the data from the Union health ministry stated.

Among the 20 states, eight have over five lakh confirmed COVID-19 cases. Theseare -- Maharashtra (35,78,160 cases), Kerala (11,89,175 cases), Karnataka (10,94,912 cases), Tamil Nadu (9,54,948 cases), Andhra Pradesh (9,37,049 cases), Delhi (7,67,438 cases), Uttar Pradesh (7,44,021 cases), and West Bengal (6,30,116 cases).

Also Read: Assam COVID-19 Update: Assam Has Stock of 3.25 Lakh Doses of Covishield, Covaxin ~ 2 Lakh Dose: Himanta Biswa

Also Watch: Kokrajhar District Health Society organizes World TB Day