E-Paper
On the frontline: Social workers in Pune come forward to assist in burial of Covid-19 patients
Realising that the burial of was becoming a problem, volunteers from the city branch of the Popular Front of India and social organisation Mulnivasi Muslim Manch came forward to perform the final rites
With the immediate relatives of patients who have died of the Covid-19 disease unable or unwilling to assist in the final rites, volunteers from two organisations in Pune have come forward to assist the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in the burial of the bodies.
As of April 24, 68 people have died of the deadly coronavirus disease, registering one of the highest death counts due to this disease in the country. On at least three occasions previously, the cremation of Covid-19 patients was delayed due to lack of adequate manpower.
Realising that the burial of Covid-19 patients was becoming a problem, volunteers from the city branch of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and social organisation Mulnivasi Muslim Manch came forward to perform the final rites.
While they have been doing the final rites of Muslim victims of the disease, they have offered their service, free of charge to people from other faiths who may have died of Covid-19.
In many cases, close relatives of the dead patients have been unable to assist in the final rites either because of extreme fear of contracting the infection, or because they are themselves under institutional quarantine.
Manch president Anjum Inamdar said, “I was distraught when I came to know that relatives were not coming forward to perform the final rites. We could see that even the municipal corporation was also struggling because of this. As per our faith, bodies have to be buried after death and so we appealed to the PMC to give us the permission to do the burial with all the necessary precautions.”
The PMC agreed to the proposal and Inamdar along with fellow volunteers Saabir Topkhan, Zameer Momi and Irfan Maniyar have performed the final rites of 11 Covid-19 patients as of April 14. “Even my 70-year-old mother, Zenab, supported me in this work,” he said.
Appreciating this initiative, Pune municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said, “Some muslim volunteers have come forward for carrying out the final rites in the absence of the relatives. This is helping the PMC and we have given them instructions and equipment for personal safety,” he said.
Srinivas Kandul, PMC’s head of electrical department and in-charge of cremations said, while the PMC did not face much difficulty in cremating the bodies at the six designated gas-fired crematoriums, burials of dead Covid patients was becoming a problem because of the digging of the trench and other final rites.
The two organisations have given a list of 26, young and healthy volunteers who will undertake this work. They have been trained on the precautions to take and the PPEs (personal protective equipment) that needs to be used.
“Now, it is we who do the final rites even if the close relatives are present and we ask them to keep a distance,” Inamdar said.
Razi said that they have organised a back-up team of 50 volunteers for this work, They have all-round support of their family members and the community in this, he said.
