COVID-19: Increasing number of covid deaths lead to long wait at crematoriums in Gujarat

The number of corona patients in the country is increasing day by day. The rapid growth of covid cases has become a cause for concern and over the last 10 days, more than 1 lakh corona patients have been found in the country every day.

10 days ago, for the first time in the country, more than 1 lakh corona patients were registered in 24 hours. The number of new coronavirus cases in India hit a record daily high with 2,00,739 infections in the last 24 hours pushing the total tally of cases to 1,40,74,564, while the active cases are 14,71,877, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The increasing cases have put pressure on the administration. Many hospitals in the country hardly have any ventilator beds available as the flow of patients has been increasing. Infact there is no space left to perform last rites of dead bodies in crematoriums. After Maharashtra and Delhi, Gujarat is now witnessing the devastation of corona. Relatives of the deceased have to wait for the funeral outside many crematoriums. The situation is critical in major cities like Ahmedabad and Surat.

Though Hindus generally do not cremate the dead after sunset, many of them are left with no option but to perform the last rites of the deceased at night in view of the rush of bodies at various crematoriums, officials said on Thursday. Two days back, around 25 bodies were cremated simultaneously on wood pyres at night in a crematorium in Umra area of Surat city.

Funeral services were held at the crematoriums around midnight. Funerals are also being held at night in Baroda. The situation is critical in major cities of Gujarat.

To tackle the situation and reduce the waiting period, authorities have added metal pyres in some crematoriums and also started defunct facilities. In Ahmedabad city, relatives of some of the deceased claimed they had to wait for over eight hours for cremation.