Ranchi: The burning ghat at Muktidham in Harmu on Sunday witnessed a long queue of bodies as one of the electric furnaces developed a snag. Therefore, people had to wait for long hours to perform the last rites of their relatives who died of Covid-19.
Congress leader Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, who visited the venue to take part in a ritual, alleged the situation arose due to the insensitivity of the administration.
He said, “The bodies of Covid victims are cremated in electric furnaces. With the number of deaths owing to Covid-19 rising sharply and one of the furnaces becoming inoperative, people are having to wait for hours to cremate their near ones.”
“I arrived at Muktidham around 10:30am, but one of the electric pyres was out of order. Moreover, there was no effort to either fix it or set up an alternate arrangement,” the relative of a deceased Covid-19 patient said.
With reports of accumulation of bodies at the ghat spreading, the district administration issued a directive to the Ranchi Municipal Corporation to repair the furnace as soon as possible.
Deputy municipal commissioner Kunwar Singh Pahan said that an alternative arrangement to cremate Covid-19 bodies has been made at a ghat in Ghagra. However, cremation of bodies of Covid victims did not begin at the Ghagra crematorium till 9pm on Sunday.
“One of the machines developed problems early in the morning, while the other was functioning at a slow speed,” Ranchi deputy mayor Sanjeev Vijaywargia said.