From April 20-26, ‘nearly 70 Covid cremations conducted daily’ in Gurgaon

Gurgaon: In the seven days from April 20-26, the city’s four crematoriums saw nearly 500 funerals in which Covid protocols were followed. The official death toll from Covid in the city was 53 in the same period.
Most of these were Covid patients who passed away while in home isolation. Officials said some were from outside Gurgaon but were being treated in hospitals here.
Ashish Singla, chief medical officer of the MCG, said that for a week, 70 bodies had been cremated with Covid protocols on an average daily. “In the first three weeks of April, we did not have these many cremations. Only in the last week has the number of cremations increased. We have a dedicated team to perform the last rites with Covid protocols. We are working round the clock to cremate the bodies,” he told TOI.
Jitender Setia, who owns a shop right outside the Madanpuri cremation ground, said he had never seen such sights in the last 35 years. On Monday, funeral pyres were lit in the parking lot as the cremation ground ran out of space and bodies piled up. “I have been here since 1987 but I haven't seen so many bodies coming for cremation in a single day. I have lost count of the bodies being brought here for the past one week or so. Cremations are taking place through the day,” he said.
Deepak Sharma, a priest of Madanpuri cremation ground said, “We have written to the district administration to divert the bodies to other cremation grounds or make temporary arrangements elsewhere as we are not able to handle this load.”
There are four Covid-designated crematoriums in the city — at Sector 32 near Medanta, Madanpuri, Atul Kataria Chowk and Carterpuri. The biggest of these is Madanpuri, where cremations are being carried out in the traditional way using wood as well as LPG. Non-Covid funerals are also taking place at these crematoriums.
For Deepak Kumar, a Sector 7 resident who waited at Madanpuri to perform the last rites of his mother, one nightmare had made way for another. He had been unable to find a hospital bed for his mother. The sight at Madanpuri made him apprehensive if he could bid her a dignified farewell. “It is disturbing to see that due to the sheer number of cremations taking place here, there is not enough time to wait for the ashes to cool down and wait for family members to collect them. The ashes are being swept aside in order to make room for more pyres,” he said.
Narender Kumar, who too waited at the crematorium on Tuesday, had similar apprehensions. “My mother died waiting for the treatment and now we are waiting for her last rites. We wandered from hospital to hospital for treatment but did not get a ventilator. When we finally got a ventilator, my mother's condition had worsened and before treatment could start, she passed away on Monday. When we reached the crematorium on Tuesday morning, a dozen ambulances were in the queue. We finally cremated her at 3pm,” said Kumar.
Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Jacobpura, said families were going from one cremation ground to the other but were having to wait six hours on an average. “I came here to cremate my uncle after going to all other crematoriums. The wait is the same everywhere,” he said.
The Shamshan Bhoomi Sudhar Samiti has decided to increase the number of LPG crematoriums at Madanpuri. “We have made plans for two new LPG crematoriums. At present, we have two such furnaces that are working round the clock. Since an LPG furnace takes four hours for a cremation, we are also performing the last rites the traditional way due to the large number of bodies coming from different parts of Gurgaon and nearby places,” said Paramjit Singh Oberoi, president of the samiti, adding there was no room to store the ashes at the crematoriums.