E-Paper
Burial of Covid-19 victims not likely to spread virus near cemetery: State to Bombay HC
The govt issued a statement in response to a petition filed by four Bandra residents, challenging the April 9 order of the BMC, which identified three interconnected Muslim burial grounds at Bandra West as a site for burial of Covid-19 victims.
Maharashtra government has told the Bombay high court (HC) that if a person, who died of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), is buried, SARS-COV-2, which causes the viral ailment, is unlikely to spread in the vicinity of the burial ground.
“It is well established and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) that Covid-19 virus is not air bound and hence transmission of the virus to other people staying in the vicinity of the burial ground is highly impossible,” the government told the court.
Click here for full Covid-19 coverage
The government issued a statement in response to a petition filed by four Bandra residents, challenging the April 9 order of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which identified three interconnected Muslim burial grounds at Bandra West as a site for burial of Covid-19 victims, irrespective of their religious faiths.
“The transmission cannot happen unless people in the locality come in direct contact with the body brought for burial or cremation,” said the statement.
“Direct contact of people staying in the locality with a body is impossible, as it is wrapped in plastic by hospital staff before handing it over to relatives for the last rites,” it added.
The statement pointed out that the burial is done in strict compliance with the directives issued by the state government and the BMC’s health department.
The civic body has also filed an affidavit supporting the state government’s stand. The affidavit stated that the WHO guidelines on bodies of Covid-#9 patients “clearly stipulate that except in cases of haemorrhagic fevers (such as Ebola) and cholera, they’re generally not infectious. Only the lungs of patients with pandemic influenza, if handled improperly during an autopsy, can be infectious. Other than that, cadavers don’t transmit the disease,” it said.
The four petitioners have complained said that the three interconnected Muslim cemeteries are at the heart of Bandra West and are surrounded by densely-populated residential areas.
The petitioners cited that on March 30, the BMC authorities had decided to bury bodies of all Covid-19 patients at the nearest burial ground in Bandra West, irrespective of their religious faiths. “The decision was taken as the burial grounds in Mumbai are located in highly densely-populated neighbourhoods and could lead to high chances of contamination,” said the petition.
The petition said that the order dated April 9 was contrary to the March 30 decision and prayed for restraining the civic body from burying any patient, who died of Covid-19, at the three burial grounds in Bandra West.
However, the court has refused to interfere with the April 9 civic order. It has also ordered the BMC to reopen the three burial grounds in Bandra West.
Earlier, Pratap Nimbalkar, who represented the Navpada Masjid, Bandra and Santacruz Golibar Dargah Trust, which manages the private Muslim burial grounds, had pointed out that some local residents had put locks on the graveyards’ gates.
The Supreme Court has refused to stay the burial, but has directed the HC to decide the petition expeditiously.
