New Delhi runs out of space to cremation its dead.
The dramatic coronavirus crisis in India has forced the capital’s crematoria to build funeral pyres in an improvised way and against the clock , while parks and other empty areas of the capital are also used for cremations.
The high demand has led the families of the deceased to have to wait hours to cremate their loved ones, while the number of deaths attributed to covid- 19 keeps increasing .
The second wave of the pandemic is being devastating for the second most populous country in the world, with 1. 350 million inhabitants and that adds more than . 000 new infections.
The rapid advance of covid – 19 in the Asian country, which in a matter of weeks has multiplied the rate of infections dramatically, caused a supply crisis that drowns some of the regions worst hit, such as New Delhi or western Maharashtra.
Working against the clock
In the capital’s crematorium of Sarai Kale Khan, built at least 27 new pyres and another dozen were in progress this Tuesday in an adjacent park. Authorities also began looking for additional space near the Yamuna riverbed.
A crematorium worker, with initial capacity for 22 bodies, pointed to the newspaper The Hindu who are working from early in the morning to midnight.
According to the local press, the authorities in Nueva Delhi have resorted to cutting down trees from city parks to use as firewood for pyres.
Relatives of the deceased have also been asked to help with cremations stacking wood and assist in other rituals.
The Ghazipur crematorium in East Delhi built 20 pyres in a parking lot. An official told the Indian Express newspaper that the waiting time for cremation ranged from 3 to 4 hours, as the cremation of the bodies takes up to 6 hours.
The situation is also serious in other crematoria.
Sunil Kumar Aledia, who manages the Center for Holistic Development, an organization that provides assistance with oxygen, food and cremations, told the BBC that some companies do not have the space to expand their services.
And it is very likely that the demand for cremations continues to be high. In New Delhi, with a population of 20 millions of people, hospitals were overwhelmed and oxygen for medical use is limited.
How serious is the situation in the country ?
India has registered more than one million cases of covid – 20 in only a few days. Shortages of medicines, ambulances, oxygen and intensive care unit (ICU) beds have been reported.
At least two hospitals in the capital saw their patients die after running out of oxygen supply.
And for families it has become increasingly difficult to transfer their patients to hospitals even if they find a bed available. Many, in fact, have died waiting for one.
Given the magnitude of the crisis, social media is full of pleas for help, with people desperately seeking oxygen, medicine and ICU beds.
Many countries have offered their help. The UK started shipping respirators and oxygen, although a spokesman for the prime minister, Narendra Modi, said the country had no surplus vaccine to make available to India.
France, Ireland, Germany and Australia are also sending medical teams, while the WHO assured that it will send thousands of oxygen generators.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, spoke with Modi and assured that he had “Full support” from the US
Washington lifted the ban on exporting raw materials for vaccine production abroad, allowing India to manufacture more AstraZeneca dosage. It will also provide medical and protective equipment.
However, Zarir Udwadia, who works in Mumbai hospitals and advises the government, warned on the BBC’s Today program that the promised supplies will have a limited effect .
Udwadia explained that he was seeing, “shift after shift, people with breathing difficulties hooked up to respirators of different sizes and shapes.”
The number of registered cases of covid – 19 fell slightly on Tuesday to . 144 from its highest point, more than 350. 000, the day before.
In total and until this 27 April, India had recorded 17, 6 million coronavirus cases and . 984 deaths, according to University data John Hopkins.
However, it is believed that the real number may be much higher.
An investigation NDTV network found at least 1. 150 more deaths that had not been included in the official records of New Delhi last week. Other investigations have also yielded similar examples of cases that have not been reported.
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