Spike in COVID Deaths Results in Melting of Gas Furnaces in Surat Crematoriums

Surat: As India is currently affected by the second wave of COVID 19, new fresh cases of coronavirus seem to be skyrocketing and spiraling out of control resulting in numerous deaths across the country on a daily basis. In Surat, the crematoriums face an acute crisis as the iron grills in the gas furnaces melt because of the burden caused by the overload of dead bodies. 

Gas furnaces of all the three crematoriums of Surat bear the brunt of excessive dead body overload resulting in the melting issue as the crematoriums are functioning round the clock. Similar issues have also been reported from the neighboring Bardoli town. 

Along with the melting of the iron frames, the burners are also exhausted and required frequent maintenance because of being overworked throughout the day. 

"Earlier we used to cremate 20 bodies in a day of which few were cremated on a wood pyre while others were cremated in gas furnaces. The load was limited and each furnace got enough time to cool down. But now, we are handling about 80 bodies daily and each furnace is in use round the clock. Hence the iron frames have started melting and breaking," an official of the Ramnath Ghela Crematorium (RGC) said. 

Two furnaces from the Ashwini Kumar Crematorium are not working as frames are melting and gas burners get clogged. 

The Kurukshetra Crematorium has employed a team of technicians to oversee the functioning of the furnaces round the clock as the furnaces break down multiple times in a day. 

Meanwhile, India has reported 1,61,736 new COVID 19 cases as of Tuesday, pushing India's tally of active caseload to 1,36,89,453 according to the data released by the Union Ministry of Health. The total cases of death reported in the last 24 hours stand to be 879, taking the total death toll to 1,71,058. The total number of active cases has been in an upwards spiral for the 34th consecutive day tallying up to 12,64,698. 

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