Bodies mount at Bengaluru cremation ground as continuous flames reveal gravity of Covid disaster

Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed on Friday at the open crematorium created to cremate Covid victims in Kurubarahalli near Tavarekere.

If 26 bodies burning at the same time made the place appear like the scene of a major disaster, 26 more bodies lay cold in ambulances queued up outside the cremation area.

Set up to divert bodies of Covid victims from the overburdened city crematoria, the open cremation area has been working relentlessly since it began operating on April 25. Each day, on Thursday and Friday, 47 bodies were consigned to flames in two batches.

Although more bodies needed to be cremated on Friday, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) decided it would not send any more remains to this facility after 4 pm on Friday since rain was anticipated.

“There was a plan to cremate about 70 to 80 bodies waiting on Friday at the crematorium,” BBMP officials said. “But it has been raining in the evenings for the past two days and we decided to stop sending bodies after 4 pm.”

An additional crematorium set up at Giddanahalli near Tavarekere received 25 bodies on day one of its operations on Friday.

Drivers perform last rites

Though the state government has allowed relatives of Covid victims to attend their cremation with strict adherence to the protocols, most kin present are giving away the responsibility of performing the last rites to ambulance drivers.

“They are scared of contracting the disease,” explained an ambulance driver.

“Therefore, they are avoiding attending the cremations and conducting the rituals. They are giving us the package (as a service) of transporting the body from the hospital, completing the last rites and handing over the ashes the next day,” the driver said.

An ambulance driver said he was witnessing the third instance in four days when drivers were asked to perform the final rites.