India TV Exclusive: Delhi's crematoriums face the heat of rising COVID-19 deaths
Delhi's coronavirus death toll is rising on a daily basis. As of June 13, Delhi has reported over 1,200 deaths. A direct impact of this situation can be seen inside Delhi's major crematoriums, which are facing the heat of more and more incoming bodies.
Videos have surfaced which show Delhi's major crematoriums including Nigam Bodh crematorium and Punjabi Bagh crematorium having operational issues due to the heavy load of incoming bodies.
India TV sent a team to investigate these videos. On reaching the crematoriums, our team bears witness to this situation first hand.
In Nigam Bodh crematorium, we found out that ambulances were coming in with multiple COVID-19 infected bodies who were being cremated. A local official told us that on average 18-21 bodies get cremated there every day.
"All the bodies that we get are either COVID positive or COVID suspected. There is no waiting but we can cremate as many as 18-21 bodies per day," the local said while referring to the electric cremation. "Apart from this people also have the option of traditional cremation using wood."
We also saw an ambulance bringing four bodies piled up on top of each other for cremation. When we asked the driver, he told us that the ambulance was a private ambulance but worked for the govt hospital for the moment (LNJP).
Several video clips of bodies being cremated in Punjabi Bagh crematorium had also surfaced. So our team reached out to Chairman of the Standing Committee in South Delhi Municipal Corporation to investigate the truth behind the video clips.
Bhupendra Gupta, chairman Standing Committee, SDMC, told India TV that the video, which is of a crematorium in Punjabi Bagh, at the same time 15-20 dead bodies were being cremated. Gupta said that 66 people can be cremated at the crematorium in one day. Cremation rituals are carried out throughout the day, and the number of deaths in the city is very high.
India TV also asked Bhupendra Gupta whether the rumours of dead bodies being stacked up at crematorium grounds was true. This was categorically denied by the SDMC official.
Coronavirus outbreak has raged out of proportion in Delhi in the last few days. The overall figures in Delhi point at a grim situation in the coming days. The Delhi government has already hinted at there being 5 lakh COVID-19 cases by the end of July. This would certainly mean that the number of deaths in the national capital could also rise exponentially.
As of June 13, Delhi has reported 36,824 coronavirus cases.
