India is currently battling with the second wave of Covid-19. On Thursday, the country reported a total of 3,79,000 new cases, a record high. The death toll has also reached alarming rates, with the country reporting 3,645 deaths.
Owing to the rampant increase in deaths, the country's crematoria are overburdened and people are having to wait for days to have funerals.
In Delhi, the civic bodies are scrambling to make space for Covid-protocol funerals and new pyre platforms are being added across to increase the capacity of crematorium sites. In NCR, some parking lots are being used for funerals due to a lack of space.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation plans to create temporary human pyre platforms at a project site meant to be the city's first dog crematorium, as per a report by the Times of India.
“Temporary pyre platforms will be developed to cater to additional bodies. We are witnessing an increase of over 15-20 per cent in cremations daily,” said a corporation official.
The crematorium site, which is currently not operational, was approved by the civic body six months ago.
“With around 700 bodies already being cremated, we have to prepare for 1,000 bodies a day in advance to avoid chaos. We have also identified sites along the Yamuna to increase the capacity,” the report said, quoting an official.
On Tuesday, till 6 pm, Delhi saw 696 Covid protocol funerals, while many others awaited their turn, the report said.