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Meerut cremation ground to expand capacity
MEERUT: Due to alarming surge of Covid-19 infection and related deaths, it has been decided to expand the capacity of the city’s main cremation ground, officials said
MEERUT: Due to alarming surge of Covid-19 infection and related deaths, it has been decided to expand the capacity of the city’s main cremation ground, officials said.
Six additional platforms for last rites would be added to the existing 40 platforms at Surajkund, city’s main cremation ground, officials said.
They said the cremation ground managed by Ganga Motor Committee for decades was under pressure because of increasing numbers of Covid deaths.
Ganga Committee’s secretary Dinesh Jain said six additional platforms for pyres would help ease the growing pressure on the ground.
“Work for constructing additional platforms started on Monday morning and would be completed in a day or so,” said Jain.
Jain said the present capacity of cremation ground proved to be insufficient as after last rites of a corona patient, the platform generally gets occupied for four to five days.
“Serious corona patients from neighbouring districts were referred in LLRM Medical College for treatment and in case of death the last rites of people were performed at Surajkund but their relatives take time to collect their ‘asthi’ (ashes) to immerse in rivers,” he said.
Jain shared that in many cases it has been seen that the entire family members get infected and hence nobody turns up to pick the remains. “Under such circumstances, platforms remain occupied for long,” he said.
Jain said that he had requested municipal commissioner to issue an order to make it mandatory to pick the ashes and bones within three days of last rites being performed.
The secretary said that ashes of 7 corona patients who died last year were still not collected by their family. “They are kept in the custody of cremation ground staff, but nobody has turned up in last one year to claim them,” said Jain.
According to health department 15 corona patients had died in past one week in the district. However, records maintained by the cremation ground reveal that 19 Corona patients were cremated between April 12 to April 16. Cremation ground staff shared, that more than more than 30 bodies of Corona patients were brought here for cremation in past 8 days and the number of dead bodies being brought here were increasing every day.
In district, 4855 people have tested positive in first 18 days of the month and maximum 741 persons were reported positive on April 18, the highest spike in a day. A day before 714 persons tested positive.
