Crematoriums Fall Short Amid Deluge Of COVID Deaths In Delhi

By OB Bureau On Apr 23, 2021

crematorium shifting demand covid — Courtesy: Amritapuri.org

New Delhi: An alarming situation of dearth of crematoriums has emerged in Delhi due to an unprecedented rise in COVID-19 fatalities.

While India recorded the world’s highest daily tally of 3,14,835 coronavirus infections on Thursday, the daily rise was over 26,000 in Delhi. The COVID-19 also took heavy toll in Delhi where 306 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, according to an NDTV report.

People losing their loved ones are turning to makeshift facilities that are undertaking mass burials and cremations as crematoriums come under pressure.

A member of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal, a non-profit medical service, said as of Thursday afternoon, 60 bodies had been cremated at the makeshift facility in the parking lot and 15 others were still waiting. From 5-year-old children to 25-year-old youths and newlyweds are being cremated, he added.

Another Delhi resident was forced to keep his mother’s body at home for nearly two days as he failed to find space in the city’s crematoriums. He cremated his mother, who died of COVID-19, in a makeshift, mass cremation facility in a parking lot adjoining a crematorium on Thursday.