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K’taka minister performs last rites of 560 unclaimed Covid victims
Bengaluru: Karnataka revenue minister R Ashok on Wednesday performed the last rites and immersed the ashes of the over 500 persons who died due to Covid-19 infection
Bengaluru: Karnataka revenue minister R Ashok on Wednesday performed the last rites and immersed the ashes of the over 500 persons who died due to Covid-19 infection. These are among the 1,400 persons whose ashes remain unclaimed at various crematoriums in the state.
Revenue department officials said that in most of the cases, despite repeated pleas from the concerned officials, family members refused to collect the bodies. Following this, the government took a decision to perform the last rites of these unclaimed ashes.
“Today, we are immersing ashes in the Cauvery river. It is considered holy, and it will help reach heaven. 560 persons’ ashes will be immersed in Cauvery today. The families of those who died, for various reasons, could not collect the ashes,” said the minister.
He further added that families of the deceased are also going through a tough time, especially when it is about performing the last rites, so the government decided to step in. “They are going through difficult times. The government is sharing the pain with them and trying to be a part of the family. It is an emotional issue for us all, brothers and sisters of Karnataka people. It is my duty as a revenue minister to do this,” he added.
The minister also said that distressing scenes emerging from north India of how bodies are being disposed played a major role in his action. “We are seeing in the Ganga, thousands of bodies of those who died in Covid time,” he said. “The birds are eating ...This is a shame to us. So, we decided to give a respectful farewell to all the deceased who lost their life to Covid. That is my duty.”
Compared to the first wave of Covid-19, in the second wave, the state reported a more than 100% increase in the number of deaths due to the pandemic. A comparison of the data in the first wave between August 1 and September 30, 2020, and the second wave from April 1 to May 27, 2021, the state reported 6,551 and 14,167 deaths respectively.
The increase in the number of deaths was so high that four out of the 13 electronic crematoriums broke down as they were running overtime. Since most of the crematoriums were running well beyond their capacity, the government had to start four open-air crematoriums as well.
Giridhar Babu, head of epidemiology department at the Public Health Foundation of India and member of state Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on Covid-19 said that change between the first and second wave shows that the medical facilities in the state were overwhelmed by the surge in cases, which could have contributed to the higher number of deaths.
