In Jalandhar & Bathinda, influx of bodies at crematoria

JALANDHAR/BATHINDA: Two crematoria in Jalandhar have reported a two-to three-fold rise in cremations, while the biggest cremation ground of Bathinda did not have enough space to cremate the dead two days ago.
Bathinda’s Grain Market crematorium, on Saturday, had to carry out the last rites of six bodies on the ground, instead of the usual cemented platform. While the crematorium has 24 cemented platforms for lighting pyres, it got 30 bodies.
In Jalandhar, Harnamdas Pura crematorium recorded 314 cremations in April — a three-time rise over the usual 100 cremations in a month. The situation was not as bad at the city’s Kishanpura crematorium, where nearly 200 cremations took place in April against the usual 100 in a month, but it was still alarming. "Earlier, two to three cremations would take place in a day and the total number would hover around 100 cremations per month. Of these, around 50 to 60 would be of Covid victims," said Sandeep Kumar Mishra, manager at Harnamdas Pura crematorium.
Anil Kumar Divedi, manager at Kishanpura crematorium, said even if one excluded Covid deaths, the number was higher than usual. Vijay Kumar, a priest at the Model Town crematorium of Jalandhar, said there has been no increase in the number of cremations. "There are some cases in which patients had come from outside, but died here in a local hospital. Their families cremated them here," he said.
According to the health department, in April, 167 Covid patients died in Jalandhar. They included patients from rural areas too, who were cremated in their respective villages.
In Bathinda, NGO Naujawan Welfare Society president Sonu Maheshwari said crematoriums were turning out to be too small to handle fatalities arising out of coronavirus. "A reason behind this is also that a lot of people who bring their loved ones for treatment in Bathinda, prefer to cremate the dead in the town only, instead of taking body with them," Maheshwari said.