GANDHINAGAR: The Sector 30 crematorium in
Gandhinagar had to extend outwards and set up wood pyres in an area adjoining a garbage dumping ground on the bank of the Sabarmati, due to the continuous influx of dead bodies because of the high number of Covid-19 deaths.
The Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation-run crematorium had to place pyres adjoining a dumping ground mainly because its two CNG-fired furnaces have not been functioning for the past few days.
Moreover, cremations on wood pyres take little longer, leaving the otherwise spacious crematorium overcrowded. Despite there being 11 wood pyres alight simultaneously, there were eight more bodies in queue for cremation on Wednesday afternoon.
Jilubha Dhadhal, who is on the committee that manages the crematorium, said there has been a rush of 75-80 dead every day for the past few days.
“About 25% are
non-Covid bodies. We do not have the option to keep them segregated and cremation of the bodies take place simultaneously. Moreover, the other cremation ground at Sargasan does not cremate bodies of Covid patients. This may be because local residents are opposing it and there is a shortage of staff,” Dhadhal explained.
Dhadhal also admitted that the queue for cremation is due to the under-maintenance CNG furnaces. “We were expecting the CNG furnaces to get repaired soon, but we encountered a bigger fault and it will take longer to get them operating again,” he added.
The committee, which manages crematorium voluntarily, is also trying hard to get more hands to meet the present rush, but is finding none. “We are ready to pay Rs 1,000 a day, but people are not ready to do this work. They cannot be blamed because everybody is afraid nowadays. Those who come to deliver the wood and other supplies also do not enter the premises,” Dhadhal said.
Bakul Sutaria, whose father had died of Covid, said, “We had to wait for about four hours till a pyre slot was free. After the wood was laid, we had to place the body ourselves as no helpers were available. It is a shame that we have to do this in the dumpyard, despite being in our state’s capital.”
Dilip Patel, whose 63-year-old father, Rasik Patel, died of Covid, said, “We brought the body here from Uvarsad and had to wait three hours for our turn.”