A politician’s relative died on Friday and the street outside the Amberpet crematorium got filled with wailing family members. The family members hugged and cried as the traffic flowed normally on the main road.
Many families are not so lucky as the funerals are becoming chaotic affairs as cremation workers race to clean up spaces for the stream of bodies. But first the families have to bargain. Cremations which used to cost ₹22,000 now cost ₹30,000.
“There is no sanctity or peace about this cremation. It is all about money. Everyone is focussed on money. There are philanthropists and volunteers but we have not come across any,” said a family member at the ESI Cremation ground walking toward the funeral of a relative.
NGOs and civic activists involved in helping families cremate or bury COVID-19 patients are seeing grim, and darker shades of reality. They are stepping in when entire families are affected by COVID-19 or if children are abroad. Most of the calls are received when the patients or people suspected of COVID-19 die at home or small-scale hospitals.
“We receive calls from children whose mother or father die at home. They call us from abroad seeking help,” said Mujtaba Askari, trustee, Helping Hand Foundation.
His team also helps out if the entire family is affected by COVID-19. A few days ago, a family of seven people tested positive. “Two family members died. Four more were in hospitals. The last person who had to take care of everything called us. We helped them out ,” he said.
Member of Feed The Needy organisation Sai Teja Katragadda had similar tragic accounts. He said that they have cremated people without homes who die by the side of road.
“In a few cases, people around them said that the persons suffered from fever for two to three days or had other symptoms and did not undergo tests. We treat it as suspected COVID death and follow the protocol involved,” Mr. Sai Teja said.
He and his team also received calls from residential welfare societies when watchmen, electricians, or other staff suspected of COVID die.
