The missing deaths: Is Madhya Pradesh underreporting Covid-19 toll?

According to government figures, 10 persons died in Bhopal due to coronavirus infection between April 9 and April 13

The surge in India's coronavirus case tally is showing no sign of slowing down. On Thursday, the nation reported over two lakh new Covid-19 cases for the first time since the outbreak of the virus. All the states are battling to curb the rise in cases by implementing curfews and strict restrictions.

As states scamble to keep the virus in check, one state has come under the scanner with reports stating that it has been underreporting deaths. According to a Hindustan Times report, 84 bodies were cremated or buried in Bhopal following Covid-19 protocols on Tuesday. The Madhya Pradesh Health Department, however, reported only five Covid-19 deaths there, raising concerns over the Covid-19 numbers. A total of 40 Covid-19 deaths were reported in Madhya Pradesh on that day.

According to government figures, 10 persons died in Bhopal due to coronavirus between April 9 and April 13.

Pradeep Kannojiya, 32, a staffer at the Subhash Nagar crematorium, told the publication, “I am cremating Covid-19 infected bodies for the past a year, but I have never seen such a pile-up of bodies as I have seen in the past one week. People have to wait for hours for cremation. The relatives are waiting with an ambulance outside the ground for the cremation. This is an endemic now.”

Read: What the coronavirus variants mean for testing

It is not just Kannojiya. "In the last four days, we have cremated 200 bodies, including those that needed to be disposed of as per Covid-19 protocols. Now, we have created a new such facility on two acres of land," said Mamtesh Sharma, secretary of the management committee of Bhadbhada Vishram Ghat, one of the biggest Hindu crematoriums in the Bhopal.

"We have created additional space for 30 pyres in the adjoining open plot...There is no other crematorium in the country to have such a dedicated space (for the cremation of Covid-19 victims)," Sharma told PTI. More space for 20 pyres will be created in the next three days to meet the rising demand.

A similar situation is prevailing in Jhada Kabristan, a Muslim graveyard, in Bhopal.

But state Health Minister Prabhuram Chaudhary has denied all such allegations. "We came to know about the cremation of bodies in large numbers and we are looking into the matter. But there is no under-reporting of cases and deaths,” he said.

Also read: Western warnings tarnish Covid-19 vaccines the world badly needs

Madhya Pradesh, a state with a large population, is now among the top five states with the maximum caseload. Madhya Pradesh recorded its highest single-day spike in Covid-19 infections with 8,998 cases on Wednesday. The caseload has increased by more than four times in the last two weeks.

The surge in Covid-19 cases has resulted in the breakdown of the state's health infrastructure. The situation is such that even a victim of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy had to wait for 48 hours to get an ICU bed, and his conditions deteriorated in the meantime, Rachna Dhingra, the convener of an organisation working for the victims of the Bhopal Gas tragedy, Bhopal Group of Information and Action, told HT.

Angry about not getting a bed, family members of a Covid-19 patient allegedly created a ruckus and abused the staff of a private hospital in Indore on Tuesday.

But Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has refuted the rumours of underreporting and said that the apparent gap between the official figures and the bodies arriving for the funeral at the crematoriums is because the funeral of suspected coronavirus patients is also being done as per Covid-19 protocols, as per a PTI report.

"People are dying due to other causes also," he said.

When asked about it, Minister for Medical Education Vishvas Sarang told reporters that patients from several other districts are coming to Bhopal for coronavirus treatment, among other things.

"This is getting reflected in the situation at the crematoriums," he said.