As death toll spirals, corpses wait in 20-hour queues for last rites at Delhi crematoriums

Under the high tin roof 50 funeral pyres burned fiercely on Tuesday the hot air filled with smoke fine ash and muted sobs of shellshocked familiesNearby lying unattended on the floor and in scores of parked vehicles more corpses awaited their turn which relatives were told would come 16 to 20 hours laterShaking the capitals spirit and soul an unimaginable tragedy is unfolding at New Delhis crematoriums struggling to cope with the deluge of the dead arriving at frightening paceI have not seen such a bad situation ever before in my life People are moving with the bodies of their loved ones from pillar to post almost all Delhi crematoriums are flooded with bodies Vineeta Massey the owner of Massey Funerals told PTIA family member puts a shroud over the body of a relative at a Delhi crematoriumBy official count 3601 people have died this month of them 2267 in the last seven days alone in the second wave of the COVID19 pandemic which is terrorising and tormenting the city In all of February the death toll was 57 and in March 117As if the trauma of losing a loved one to the virus so suddenly is not enough there is more grief in store for relatives who are not even able to give them a proper sendoffThey arrive at crematoriums with bodies only to be turned away They drive to another facility and yet another traversing the city with the mortal remains in personal cars or ambulances desperately seeking a graceful exit for their father mother son or daughter from the material worldA family member stands beside a stretcher with the body of a COVID19 victim at a cremation ground in New DelhiThe trauma is no less for the relatives of those who died of nonCovid causes but are being swept up in the collective national tragedy driven by the pandemicAman Arora a young entrepreneur from West Delhis Ashok Nagar lost his father ML Arora to a heart attack on Monday afternoonWe rushed him to many private hospitals when he started feeling discomfort in his chest but he was not even checked by the medical staff there They demanded that we produce a Covidnegative report He eventually passed away said AmanBody of a COVID19 victim at the pyre at a crematorium in DelhiOn Monday afternoon Aman was told by the staff in west Delhis Subhash Nagar crematorium to wait until Tuesday morning to perform the last ritesWhen Aman realised there was no point in pleading he arranged for a refrigerator to prevent his fathers dead body from decayingWhat could I have done when there was no space We kept the body in a rented fridge and have come early today Tuesday said Aman waiting for his turn as many other people milled around silently with dead bodies lying on the floorOutside ambulances and cars honked and competed for parking space but inside all one could hear was the crackling of dry wood from the burning pyres all 50 of them roaring simultaneouslyA few sobs arose over the sound of the fires and one could hear the unemotional intonations of instructions being given by the crematorium staffApna dead body uthao aur udhar line mein ja ke khade ho jao Pick up your dead body and go stand in line said a young stafferA woman in her 40s was so stunned she couldnt make out what was nabhi navel or chhati chest when a staff member asked her to place sandalwood sticks on the body of her father who had died of CovidThe body was still packed in a white sack which was placed on the pyre without openingHolding the sandalwood sticks in trembling hands she moved around the body before being helped by someoneI didnt even see the face of my father wailed the womanManmeet Singh a 40yearold assistant professor also carried his father Gurpal Singhs body in his car to the Subhash Nagar crematorium on Monday afternoonBut the staff politely told him his father couldnt be cremated because the pyre chambers were already full and the CNG crematorium at the centre could only accommodate two bodies at one timeIt takes about 90 minutes to dispose of one body in a CNG chamber and a PTI correspondent counted 24 bodies waiting in queue for a slotWith no other option Manmeet left for the MCD crematorium in Pashchim Vihar about six kilometres away and luckily got space with the help of an MCD inspectorIf you cant provide oxygen to the patients in hospitals then at least provide some space in the cremation ground so that people leave the world comfortably said ManmeetThe ground at the crematorium was full of filth and covered with leftovers of the previous cremation It was muddy and rotten fruits were scattered all over Plastic bags sacks buckets mugs littered the ground But none of that mattered to the relatives What mattered was enough space to light a pyreAccording to rules said a senior official at the Delhi Health Department if somebody dies of COVID19 in hospital the district administration has to arrange a hearse van and the hospital is supposed to deploy staff for the disposal of the dead body at the crematorium and graveyardBut the crush of the dead has made it impossible for hospitals to provide hearses So relatives are simply taking the bodies in their vehiclesIf family members move with the body of their loved ones in their personal vehicles there are chances of being infected another government official saidAjeet a staff member at the MCD crematorium told PTI they have created more than 100 extra makeshift chambers in an adjacent space to accommodate the increasing number of dead people both COVID19 and natural deathsI cant move my arms I am dead tired The whole day we arrange for cremation and then in the night we have to take care of the pyres so that the fire consumes the bodies properly said AjeetThe chaos at the crematoriums has raised questions about the Delhi governments preparedness for the second wave which Chief Minister Arvind Kerjriwal said had left the healthcare system on the brink of collapse Many deaths have also been attributed to a severe oxygen shortage for the last 10 daysThe fixing of responsibility will happen later But for now this is the time for us to build solidarity and enough compassion for the poor people fighting the pandemic said Harsh Mander a former IAS bureaucrat who is now a civil rights activistThe wealthy and the influential thought that they have an escape route to all this but this pandemic told us that we are all in this together he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever