Amid lockdown, Ludhiana cremation grounds run out of wood

After the lockdown was imposed across the country, supply of many essential items, along with wood at the cremation grounds in Ludhiana, has been disrupted.

After the lockdown was imposed across the country, supply of many essential items, along with wood at the cremation grounds in Ludhiana, has been disrupted.

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Arun Atri, trustee of the Shantivan Cremation Ground nearAmar Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Inter-State Bus Terminal, said that they are running out of wood for cremating the bodies, as they are not getting the supply.

Sushil Sharma, cleric at Civil Lines cremation ground, said that they used to get wood from the local traders of Rupnagar and Hoshiarpur. But after the curfew was imposed, they did not get the supply and now they are left with the stock for cremating only 15 to 20 bodies.

If they did not get wood, they would not be able to cremate bodies from next week onwards, Sharma added.

Beside shortage of wood, other problem being faced at the cremation ground is remains of dead people. As families of the deceased are not able to immerse their remains after the curfew, the grounds are now running out of lockers too. After cremating bodies, people use to keep remains of their family members in the lockers at cremation ground for a few days.

After the Coronavirus outbreak, in order to maintain social distance, the clerics at the cremation grounds have been requesting the people to avoid reaching the grounds for the last rites in large numbers.

“Dead body releases many type of germs and bacteria. So we always request people to maintain distance from pyres,” Atri said.

They have already installed a hoarding at the cremation ground to make people aware, he said, adding that after the coronavirus outbreak, they advise people to stay 100-feet away from pyres, as there are more chances of getting infected from viruses.