Dakshina Kannada district administration formulates plan for quicker turnaround time

Mangaluru: The district administration has formulated a quicker turn-around time to cremate bodies of Covid-19 victims in Dakshina Kannada. With protocol not permitting use of an electric furnace for a second cremation before 3-hours and the coil of the furnace at Boloor repeatedly coming in for repairs, the administration has placed order for an additional electric furnace that will be made operational at Boloor soon.
In addition, a proposal has been mooted to set up a new electric crematorium at Nandigudda at an estimated cost of Rs 1.25 crore using 15th Finance Commission funds and efforts are on to source funds for a similar facility in Surathkal, deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh told TOI. With physical infrastructure available at Boloor, it will not take much time to install a new furnace there, a move that will help address the issue, she said.
Acknowledging the sentiments of families who wish to cremate their loved ones on their own or ancestral property, Sindhu said the administration has also permitted the same with safety precautions. “Our group D workers will accompany the body from the hospital to the cremation site and ensure that the rites are conducted as per protocol without people gathering,” she said, adding that it will reduce the pressure on the crematorium at Boloor.
Mangaluru city south MLA D Vedavyas Kamath who played a pivotal role in convincing people of Boloor to give the Covid victims a dignified send off despite their initial misgivings said, “We are forced to delay the dispatch of ambulance to the hospital to collect the body for even if an ambulance reaches the crematorium, there is no space to store the bodies for another 3 hours,” he said.
Referring to the situation on Thursday where five of the victims were Hindus and their rites had to be performed at Boloor, Kamath said this meant that by the time the fifth body was cremated, there was a gap of 15-hours. “The new furnace that will be purchased and installed using funds at MCCs disposal will help expedite the process,” he said, adding facilities mooted at Nandigudda and Surathkal may take some more time to materialise.