The civic authorities in Delhi have granted permission to crematoriums to remain shut at night as Covid-19 cases dropped with a subsequent fall in related deaths. It was only till recently when the night sky of the national capital was lit with funeral pyres as coronavirus deaths overwhelmed the city and its crematoriums.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, officials said with fall in fatality figures, mortuaries have more space to keep bodies for the night and not send the same to crematoriums at night for the final rites. The Delhi government’s health bulletin for Tuesday showed there were 41 Covid-related deaths in the city. The capital had witnessed over 5,000 deaths in April and more than 8,000 fatalities in May. At one point, more than 400 people lost their live a day. At that time, bodies were being sent for funeral immediately after a patient was declared dead at the hospital.
Officials said night funerals have stopped at crematoriums in Sarai Kale Khan, Ghazipur and Shastri Park about four days ago. A worker at Ghazipur crematorium, one of the largest in East Delhi, said one three bodies of suspected Covid-19 victims were brought for final rites on both Monday and Tuesday.
“This is the same place where we had to build funeral platforms at the parking lot two months ago. We were getting over 100 bodies then. We were all working in two shifts…This decision to stop night cremations was taken about 10 days ago,” Kumar was quoted as saying in the report. Besides the head priest, several boys, who were brought from villages to help with the heavy load of crematorium work, have returned home.
Meanwhile, notices have been pasted at Sarai Kale and the Shastri Park crematoriums that no bodies would be cremated after 8pm.
East Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Nirmal Jain said allowing cremations at night was an emergency move. “We have now shut the night cremation facility as the number of bodies coming to our crematoriums and graveyards have reduced drastically,” he told the newspaper.
Nigambodh Ghat, one of the largest crematoriums in the capital, has both wood-based and CNG mode of cremation. An official said that while the facility remains open round-the-clock throughout the year, only few bodies came at night. It was only last month, when 125 bodies started coming every day and mass funerals had to be arranged at night. “We get around 20-25 bodies now. And all these funerals are happening during the day,” he said.
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