After a year-long wait, the Revenue department has handed over land for the construction of nine crematoriums in the city. Officials said the work will start soon and the new crematoriums will reduce the burden on the existing ones in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said the number of crematoriums will go up from 12 to 21. He inspected those in Padarayanapura, which were not functioning for the last few months, and instructed the officials to finish the work by September first week.
Prasad also inspected crematoriums in Medi Agrahara and Hebbal after complaints of delay and of staff demanding money for cremation.
About 90 bodies are being cremated in the city every day, of which 30 are of Covid-19 victims. The BBMP has reserved four crematoriums to expedite the cremation of Covid-19-dead, Prasad said.
Earlier, the crematorium staff used to work from 8 am to 4 pm, but after the outbreak, the duty time has been extended till 9 pm.
Prasad said people were not following the timing given to them while booking online, and were waiting for auspicious time to bring bodies to crematoriums, which was causing delays. Some conduct the last rites at the place, which consumes more time. So, it's not possible to complete the cremation at the given slot, he said.
Prasad added that the BBMP had cancelled the crematorium fee of Rs 200 for Covid-19 bodies. Instead, it is spending Rs 900 on bamboo stretchers to carry the dead, Rs 100 for mud pots to store and hand over the ashes and Rs 500 to crematorium staff for every Covid-19 body burnt. The salaries of the staff have also been increased while executive engineers have been directed to hire more workers, he said.
DH spoke to some crematorium staff who said they receive nearly 15 to 20 Covid-19 bodies every day. Though the crematoriums are reserved of Covid-19 bodies, locals force them to cremate other bodies too. Sometimes, Covid-19 bodies are diverted to other reserved crematoriums. The workers said they are yet to receive the amount promised for every Covid-19 body burnt (Rs 500) though the order was passed in July.
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