BENGALURU: With Covid-19 deaths increasing in the city, the wait time for bodies at crematoria has gone up to 3-4 hours.
Each of the four Covid-19 dedicated crematoria has seen a sharp spike in bodies every day.
According to crematoria workers, it takes about 45-60 minutes to cremate a body. Ravi, a worker at Sumanahalli crematorium, said, “We usually get 5-6 bodies a day but now, we’ve been getting about 22-25 dead bodies every day, including 15 Covid bodies. I have worked till 11.30pm for the last two days and come back by 6am the next day. This crematorium can cremate only 16 bodies a day.”
There are about 12 electric crematoria in the city but two are not operational. A furnace each in Sumanahalli, Panathur, Bommanahalli, Medi Agrahara and Kengeri crematoria has been reserved for Covid-19 victims, but the Kengeri facility is defunct. The second furnace is used for non-Covid bodies.
Ravi said, “We don’t have enough staff. At 8pm Wednesday in Medi Agrahara, they have 14 bodies to cremate and they’re seeking our help.”
The situation in graveyards too is grim. Raju, who works at Kalpalli graveyard, said at least 15 bodies were brought there on Wednesday.
Mohammed Ismail of Mercy Mission, an NGO ferrying the dead on their last journey, said the civic agency talked about installing freezers but the idea has remained only on paper.
“They have neither learnt nor updated themselves after the previous spike,” he added.