As toll rises, more space allotted for coronavirus victims

An additional two acres of land has been allocated in the oldest graveyard in Delhi for burying victims of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as the toll from the viral infection is growing.

An additional two acres of land has been allocated in the oldest graveyard in Delhi for burying victims of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as the toll from the viral infection is growing.

A man prays next to the grave of a relative at the Delhi Gate graveyard. (Reuters photo)

Till Wednesday, 5,581 people have died of Covid-19 in Delhi, according to the government’s daily bulletin.

In April, as the Covid-19 toll began to rise in the capital, Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam, Delhi’s oldest and largest Islamic graveyard near Delhi Gate, had allocated six acres of land -- clearing about 150 metres away from the main cemetery -- for the burial of victims.

With over 700 graves that space filled up this month and the cemetery committee, which administers the graveyard, has allocated another two acres of land in the graveyard. On Tuesday, a JCB machine worked for hours to clear the overgrown land for another 400 graves.

“We never thought the six acres would not be enough. If the Covid-19 crisis lasts another two months, our graveyard does not have any more space for burying Covid-19 victims,” said Haji Faiyazuddin, the secretary of the managing committee at Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam.

Mohammad Shamim, the 38- year-old supervisor at the graveyard, who has overseen all the burials in the past seven months, said when the first body arrived in April, he never thought that Covid-19 would claim so many lives. “These days, we receive about 4-5 bodies on an average every day; May was the worst when we received about 10 to 15 bodies every day,” said Shamim.

Shamim points out that one of the reasons why they have been fast running out of space is the fact that the graves of Covid-19 victims take up more space than others. “The grave which is dug by a JCB machine is bigger and deeper than normal hand-dug graves. We have to follow complicated space-consuming protocols for the burial of the Covid-19 victims,” says Shamim.

Haji Faiyazuddin said that a lot of people who are dying in Delhi hospitals from the coronavirus disease are from the neighbouring states. “Their relatives do not want to take the dead bodies to their native places, a reason why we are receiving so many bodies here,” he said. “But no one has bothered to talk to us about how we are managing.”

Dr Ashok Rawat, medical health officer (MHO), North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which is the nodal agency for burial grounds in Delhi, said, “We have a plan for creating additional space for burials. A 4,000 square metres land in Rohini Sector-26 is being developed into a burial ground. We will also try to carve out a cemetery from it for Christians. The land has been allotted and the boundary wall has been made.”