Nagpur: “What’s the hurry, everyone has to go there one day, even I’ll have to go,” says a NMC staffer deployed at Gangabhai Ghat taking down details of the deceased. This quickly diffuses the harried atmosphere, and relatives outside the small room settle down for a longer wait in line.
The scene at crematoria is like a busy government office these days. Relatives wait in queues to complete formalities, pyres can be seen lit all over, and groups of people huddle around almost everywhere. Soon a hearse vans brings another Covid victim. Dressed in PPEs, NMC heath workers try to finish the job without wasting a moment. Sometimes, last rites are not even over when the team gets a call to pick up another body.
TOI paid a second visit to the burning ghats and burial grounds after March, to find that life has just got a little more hectic there.
The number of dead bodies being brought to the crematoria has gone up nearly four times as compared to January and February. At some burial grounds, soon space may fall short. TOI visited Ambazari, Mokshadham, and Gangabai burning ghats, along with Muslim graveyards at Mominpura and Jaripatka, as well as the Christian cemetery at Jaripatka.
Each burning ghat TOI visited is getting 35 to 45 bodies each day on an average. As many has 70% of the deaths are due to Covid. However, staffers also accept non-Covid deaths have also gone up substantially. A couple of months ago not more than a dozen bodies were brought in a day. These days there are 10 to 15 non-Covid bodies out of 35 to 40 corpses each day. There is also a token system in place to manage things.
Amid all the chaos, there are chances of some cases escaping the authorities. If a person dies at home, the kin can simply bring the body and get it cremated or buried. At the ghats, TOI was told that all that is needed is a copy of Aadhaar card of the deceased and that of one nominee. Whatever cause is mentioned by the relatives is written down in the register. In case of a hospital death, the kin come along with a death certificate issued from there. In case of Covid, a specific certificate is given.
TOI witnessed the case of 36-year-old Amar Bahadure at Gangabai ghat, who had died at home. “It was sudden,” said a relative. All that relatives gave was an Aadhaar copy of Bahadure and that of his nominee. This is the only system for home deaths, said staffers at Gangabai and Ambazari ghats. At Mokshadham, they insist on a witness letter from a couple of neighbours also.
“We had instructions from NMC to collect a copy of death certificate also, but not many bring one along. Since the family is grieving, we cannot insist. However, we have made it a rule not to take a body after 9pm, so any mischief is prevented,” said Abdul Qadir of the Qabrastan Committee at Jaripatka.
Covid or non-Covid, space is at a premium. Bodies were being burnt even in the open area outside the designated sheds at the three ghats. “You come by 4 pm there will be hardly any space to stand. The bodies brought in the day are of deaths that have taken place yesterday. Hospitals release the bodies by afternoon, this increases the rush in the later hours,” said a guard at Ambazari ghat.
Sometimes, hearse vans are also falling short, so bodies are also brought in mini-Star buses, the guard said. One was seen moving out right then. No dearth of firewood was reported, however.
At the Mominpura Qabrastan, there seemed to be some respite. “The numbers had gone up last month. Out of 223 deaths 67 were due to Covid. The figures have not been compiled for this month but there have been no Covid deaths since couple of days,” said Nadeem Khan, a committee member..
However, at Jaripatka Qabrastan, there were concerns that space may fall short in two-three months if deaths continue at this pace. The Covid dead are buried in a designated area. In last two months, over 20 Covid bodies have been buried. Likewise, 15 were buried at the Roman Catholic cemetery across the road, said the security guard who also complained there was little space left.