Crematorium at Hindon flooded with bodies

Ghaziabad: The Hindon river crematorium was overwhelmed with bodies on Saturday. By 5pm, some 52 bodies were either cremated or in the process.
On Friday, over 50 bodies were cremated. Officials at the crematorium said at least 550 bodies have been cremated since April 1. The deceased included many who succumbed to Covid-related complications.
The relatives of 21-year-old Yashika, who succumbed to the infection at the AIIMS in Delhi, were waiting in the queue at the crematorium since early morning. Her brother Deepak told TOI that their token number was 47, but by afternoon 45 bodies were cremated.
“My sister was admitted to AIIMS with kidney-related complications on Friday and even though her corona report was negative, she was admitted to the Covid ward. She died later in the night and we came to Hindon cremation ground with her body in our car early on Saturday morning. It’s already afternoon and we are still waiting for our turn to cremate the body,” Deepak said.
Deepak remained in his car with the body of his sister wrapped in a white sheet.
“We could not even return to our home in Govindpuram, we are just waiting for our turn, my token number is 47,” he added.
The crematorium is also staring at a shortage of wood required for the funeral pyre. The management of the crematorium said there are just 5,000 quintals of wood left that will last for just a week.
“The situation is worse than what we experienced in April last year. So far, 550 bodies have been cremated this month,” said Pandit Manish Sharma in charge of Hindon Moksh Dham.