Asst commissioner, ward officers turn pall bearers to ensure last rites for Covid-positive senior

PUNE At midnight on Tuesday, July 21, at Chavan nagar on Satara road, a deceased 65-year-old female Covid-positive patient was taken to the Sangamwadi crematorium

PUNE At midnight on Tuesday, July 21, at Chavan nagar on Satara road, a deceased 65-year-old female Covid-positive patient was taken to the Sangamwadi crematorium by the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) assistant municipal commissioner, and ward officers from Dhankawadi and Sahakarnagar.

HT Image

The woman’s last rites were conducted by the Pune civic body’s senior staff at 4am, July 22.

This situation was created by a domino effect sparked by a private contractor appointed by the PMC to collect and transport deceased Covid patients to specific crematoriums, not responding to the call.

The civic officials went to the woman’s house themselves, armed with necessary safety precautions in a PMC-appointed ambulance and took possession of the body for the last rites – a six hour process in all.

Assistant municipal commissioner Nilesh Deshmukh, ward medical officer Dr Vidya Nagmode, senior sanitary inspector Narendra Bhalerao, senior sanitary inspector Raju Dullam and sanitary inspector Shantaram Sonawane, are the civic officers who ensured the cremation happened and was not further delayed.

A family member of the deceased said, “All this happened due to a lack of coordination. She began feeling breathless and she died in the evening. From 6 pm to 11 pm we tried to get the death certificate and ambulance, but failed. Then, the senior officials from the Dhankawadi ward office came to our house, collected and packed the body, and took it in an ambulance for cremation. We are really thankful to all of them who helped us in this difficult time.”

Jayant Bosekar, PMC deputy commissioner (zone 3), under whose jurisdiction the ward office comes, said, “It was an unfortunate incident to happen. I personally called the contractor, but he was not reachable. So, our team of senior officials went to collect the body and cremated it. Now we are issuing an official tender in our zone for this work. All the dead bodies of Covid- positive patients, whether from hospital or home, will be collected and their last rituals will be done.”

The family itself has been through the Covid wringer since July 16, when a 72-year-old male member of the same family, living in Chavan nagar, died Covid-19 positive.

After that, the entire family underwent testing and five tested positive on July 19, including the 65-year-old female.

Home quarantine was the immediate reaction, but on Monday, July 20, as the woman started struggling to breathe, she was rushed to a private hospital.

The family decided to bring her back home on July 21, and she died the same day at 6 pm.

As other family members were positive in the house, and in quarantine in a separate room, they were unable to take the body for the last rituals, so contacted the PMC ward office.

It is alleged that the contractor in question did not respond to the PMC calls because it was a case of a deceased Covid-19 patient in a home environment, which allegedly raises the risk of infection.

Then, the PMC acted and as calls sped up the chain of command the buck stopped with assistant municipal commissioner Nilesh Deshmukh, who acted fast and decisively.

A private doctor in the area was woken up at 11.30 pm and requested to issue a death certificate. Finally, the ward office ambulance, used for transporting Covid-19 positive patients, reached the house of the deceased at 12.30 am.

The officers packed the body, sealed it and took it to the Kailas crematorium in Sangamwadi.

By the time the body was cremated it was 4am.