E-Paper
Ranchi: Cremation machines develop snag due to ‘overburden’
Over a dozen Covid-19 infected bodies were in line for cremation at Muktidham in Ranchi’s Harmu area after two gas-based cremation machines developed technical snag due to “overburden” on Sunday, officials said
Over a dozen Covid-19 infected bodies were in line for cremation at Muktidham in Ranchi’s Harmu area after two gas-based cremation machines developed technical snag due to “overburden” on Sunday, officials said.
Acting fast, the district administration directed Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) that manages the crematorium to rectify the snag at the earliest. RMC chief executive officer Mukesh Kumar said, “Our technical team is working on its rectification. The machines, that were earlier running uninterrupted, developed snag due to pressure.”
The crematorium was being used to dispose of infected bodies while following Covid-19 protocol. According to officials, the crematorium was overburdened due to increasing Covid casualties.
RMC was also arranging an alternative to dispose of the bodies through a conventional method. “A team has been deputed to clean and make arrangements of lightning at alternative cremation ground to clear the pendency. Since pressure is rising, we cannot rely on the machines only,” he said.
Ranchi recorded 36 deaths due to Covid-19 between April 1 and 10, while 5,841 cases were detected during this period. The district saw five deaths on Saturday alone.
Meanwhile, the Ranchi administration, in association with Railway authorities, set up a special Covid-19 testing camp for passengers coming from Mumbai in Lokmanya Tilak-Ranchi superfast special train, which arrived at Ranchi railway station on Sunday afternoon. However, to officials’ surprise, only 32 passengers alighted from the train against the 180 passengers, mostly migrant workers, who were scheduled to arrive.
On the other hand, the passengers claimed that all seats in the train were occupied when it started from Mumbai. Majority of the passengers alighted at Gomoh and Bokaro stations to avoid Covid test at Ranchi station, they claimed.
Chief public relation officer (CPRO), Ranchi rail division, Neeraj Kumar said, “As many 32 passengers arrived at Ranchi station from the train. Covid testing centre has been set up on the platform and all the passengers underwent the test.”
When contacted, officials in Ranchi rail division said the train did not stop anywhere after it departed from Bokaro.
