![]() Plastic bags, sacks, buckets, mugs littered the ground. The 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. "If you can't 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 Manmeet. With no option left, Manmeet left for the MCD crematorium in Pashchim Vihar about six kilometers away and luckily got space with the help of an MCD inspector. It 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 slot. Manmeet Singh, a 40-year-old assistant professor, also carried his father Gurpal Singh's dead body in his car to the Subhash Nagar crematorium on Monday afternoon.īut the staff politely told him his father couldn't be cremated because the pyre chambers were already full and the CNG crematorium at the center could only accommodate two bodies at one time. "I didn't even see the face of my father," wailed the woman, who was alone. Holding the sandalwood sticks in trembling hands, she moved around the body before being helped by someone. The body was still packed in a white sack, which was placed on the pyre without opening. "Apna 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 staffer.Ī woman in her 40s was so stunned she couldn't 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 Covid. Outside, 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 simultaneously.Ī few sobs arose over the sound of the fires, and one could hear the unemotional intonations of instructions being given by the crematorium staff. "What 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 floor. When Aman realised there was no point in pleading, he arranged for a refrigerator to prevent his father's dead body from decaying. On Monday afternoon, Aman was told by the staff in west Delhi’s Subhash Nagar crematorium to wait until Tuesday morning to perform the last rites. They demanded that we produce a Covid-negative report. "We 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. The trauma is no less for the relatives of those who died of non-Covid causes but are being swept up in the collective national tragedy driven by the pandemic.Īman Arora, a young entrepreneur from West Delhi's Ashok Nagar, lost his father ML Arora to a heart attack on Monday afternoon. 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 world. They arrive at crematoriums with bodies, only to be turned away. In all of February, the death toll was 57, and in March 117.Īs 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 send-off. almost all Delhi crematoriums are flooded with dead bodies," Vineeta Massey, the owner of Massey Funerals, told PTI.īy official count, 3,601 people have died this month, of them 2,267 in the last seven days alone in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic which is terrorising and tormenting the city. People are moving with the dead bodies of their loved ones from pillar to post. "I have not seen such a bad situation ever before in my life. Shaking Delhi's spirit and soul, an unimaginable tragedy is unfolding at New Delhi's crematoriums struggling to cope with the deluge of the dead arriving at a frightening pace. Nearby, 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 later. ![]() A view of Subhash Nagar Crematorium where a long queue of bodies of Covid-19 victims wait for cremation in New Delhi on Tuesday. Under the high tin roof, 50 funeral pyres burned fiercely on Tuesday, the hot air filled with smoke, fine ash, and muted sobs of shell-shocked families.
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