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Amid Covid surge, Chandigarh’s crematoria facing wood shortage
High demand due to rising number of Covid deaths has hit supply as wood is being diverted to Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, claim crematorium officials
With an unprecedented number of cremations taking place in the city during the current wave of Covid-19, cremation ground operators are beginning to see a shortage of wood. According to them, each funeral pyre requires about 3-4 tonnes of wood.
The caretaker of Industrial Area cremation ground, Deen Dyal Tripathi, said, “The number of cremations taking place here, both Covid and non-Covid, have gone up and though we require 60 tonnes of wood daily, these days it is hard to get. Each cremation takes up around 3-4 tonnes of wood.”
While the average number of monthly cremations in 2019 was 15-20, these days as many are being performed daily. Moreover, the price of wood has doubled, said Tripathi, adding that there is a shortage of supply from the contractors, partly because of wood being diverted to other cities in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, besides unavailability of labourers.
A similar situation has gripped Sector 25 and Manimajra cremation grounds. Ashwani Kumar, caretaker of Manimajra crematorium, said, “During the first Covid wave, every day we would get three to four trucks full of wood, but now supply has reduced even as the demand is high. The municipal corporation fixes the rates, but procurement is done by the crematorium staff from contractors in Punjab, Yamunanagar and Uttar Pradesh.”
“We had a backup of around 3,000 tonnes of wood at the cremation centre before April, however, now about half of it is left. It will last us till the end of the month, but if the situation does not improve, an acute shortage is expected in June,” said an official from the Sector 25 cremation ground.
Residents complain of overcharging
Amid the ongoing Covid crisis, some residents have raised complaints of overcharging at the city’s crematoria.
A resident who had paid for a cremation on April 26 at the Industrial Area crematorium said he was charged ₹6,000.
However, caretaker Tripathi refuted the allegations saying, “The cost of wood is fixed at ₹3,500 here. Other expenses like ‘samgiri’ and donation to the pandit must have been included in the total amount.”
MC leader of opposition Devinder Singh Babla has also submitted a complaint regarding this to the civic body. The MC will now bear the cost of cremation for poor Covid victims.
Even though wood used for traditional cremation in Sector 25 is priced at ₹3,000, the LPG crematorium next to the cremation ground charges only ₹30. However, according to the officials here, people still prefer the traditional way.
“The low cost is not bringing more bodies to our crematorium. Most people who use our facilities come from affluent families and choose it because it causes less pollution. Mostly Sikh families use our facilities, and Hindu families prefer the traditional method of cremation,” they said.
While last year there was a shortage of lockers at the city’s crematoria, this problem has been resolved this year, according to Ashwani Kumar. “Last year, due to movement restrictions, people were unable to collect the mortal remains on time, which led to the lockers running out of space,” he said, adding that now people have been told to collect the remains within one day.
