RAIPUR: Amid the recent surge in Covid-19 cases and related deaths, bodies of coronavirus patients are piling up at various hospitals in
Chhattisgarh
, including
BR Ambedkar Hospital
in Raipur.
Considering the situation, the state government has decided to set up electric crematorium in six urban areas of state to speed up the funeral process.
Urban development minister Shiv Kumar Dehariya said he has directed officials to make arrangements and build electric crematoriums in urban areas including Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Korba,
Bhilai
and Risali.
Coronavirus: Live updates The municipal corporation commissioners have been asked to speed up the process of establishing electric crematorium and are asked to issue short term tenders within seven days.
While Raipur already has two electric crematoriums in Devendra Nagar and Budhapara area, both of them are presently non-functional and efforts are being made to repair them.
Officials said that Raipur has 23 such sites identified as crematoriums but only 15-17 are functional and they cater to many neighbouring regions like Aarang, Birgaon and Dharsiwa.
The load has increased because patients with severity are travelling to Raipur from all parts of state to get better treatment and many are succumbing to the viral infection.
A video is being shared widely on social media platforms that shows bodies lying on the floor and stretchers waiting in queue for a two-yard land for last rites.
Workers at the morgue said that the bodies are piled up for more than three-four days in scorching heat to be cremated due to sudden surge in deaths due to
Covid
in the past few days and the situation would go out of control without an alternative.
The video shows more than 20 bodies lying inside and outside the mortuary.
Rashmi is a Special Correspondent with The Times of India in Chha...
Read MoreRashmi is a Special Correspondent with The Times of India in Chhattisgarh. She covers Politics, Left Wing Extremism, Crime and Human Rights among other areas of news value.
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