Cremations in Noida affected as wood availability low due to lockdown

The cremation ground in Sector 94, Noida, is running low on wood needed for cremation owing to the ongoing lockdown. The lack of labour is also hampering its operations.

The cremation ground in Sector 94, Noida, is running low on wood needed for cremation owing to the ongoing lockdown. The lack of labour is also hampering its operations.

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According to the management, they now have stock only for another 15 days with no foreseeable solution in sight.

“The ground comes under the Noida authority but we have been managing it for years now. These days, we also have a problem of not enough workers due to social distancing norms, and most of them are staying away anyway. However, we are managing for now but the real problem is that we have limited supplies left and have already dipped into our wood reserves which may hod out for another two weeks at the most,” Mahesh Saxena, general secretary, Noida Lok Manch, the social organisation managing the ground, said.

He said they have two wood vendors who supply from Bulandshahr. “There is also a shortage of labour for chopping the wood. They have the requisite permissions from Noida, but they face problems at the border as there is a severe lack of coordination. The reserve wood we are using these days is dry and so we end up using more of it as dry wood burns fast,” Saxena said.

He said they now use about five quintals of wood per body, up from the earlier three. On average, the ground uses 1,000 quintals of wood a month and the management hopes that they get support from the government officials.

“Maybe, the forest department could chip in and contribute. We have to prepare ourselves mentally. What if the situation becomes worse going forward? We can’t keep using more fuel also. There are two CNG machines here, one of which has been defunct for a while. The authorities need to come up with alternative plans to supply us with fuel,” he said.

Saxena said he has written to the national fuel suppliers to provide fuel at a subsidised price but has not heard back from them yet.

“This is a national crisis and every state will face this problem. The government has to prepare a contingency plan. We are still awaiting instructions on how bodies of Covid-19 patients have to be disposed of. Our staff should also receive the necessary protective gear. A few more days and operations will come to a halt,” Saxena said.

Police said that they have given passes to wood vendors. “We will speak with our counterparts in Bulandshahr and try to resolve any border issues,” Sankalp Sharma, deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, said.

Noida authority officials said they are prepared for all scenarios.

“We have already instructed the horticulture department to supply the required wood in the next 10 days. We also have a surplus CNG machine and we are working on repairing the defunct one. The firm that does the maintenance is under lockdown currently. A few bodies are cremated using wood and while the others are burned using the CNG machine. There will be no problems in this regard,” Vijay Rawal, senior manager, circle 9, civil department, said.