The Health Department has directed the deputy commissioners of all the 24 districts in Jharkhand to appoint nodal officers to ensure respectful and timely cremation of Covid-infected bodies – a development that comes days after the Mukti Dham imbroglio in Ranchi, wherein over a dozen Covid-infected bodies had to lay unattended in ambulances outside the crematorium for over 24 hours owing to technical snag in the incinerator.
Health Secretary KK Soan, in a letter addressed to all the DCs, wrote that all districts must be prepared for cremation of Covid-infected bodies in advance to ensure that there are no roadblocks in the process of cremation even if the count of bodies is high.
“There has been a sudden rise in the number of Covid casualties in the state. In such a situation, all the districts are advised to be prepared for timely and respectful cremation of Covid-infected bodies well in advance,” the health secretary’s letter stated.
The health secretary, in his letter to the DCs, also directed all the officials concerned in the 24 districts to provide Moksha Vahan, hearse provided by the government, for Covid victims. The nodal officers for cremation of Covid-infected bodies, Soan said, could be directly contacted in case any family faces hurdles in cremation of Covid-infected bodies in the state.
As per figures with the National Health Mission (NHM), as many as 40 Covid patients have died in Jharkhand during the past 48 hours. At least 22 of the 40 Covid victims were residents of Ranchi.
The electric incinerator at Ranchi Mukti Dham, used only for cremation of Covid victims, remained defunct for more than 48 hours since Sunday, forcing authorities to look for alternative places where Covid-infected bodies could be cremated.
Eventually, more than 50 Covid-infected bodies were cremated at Swarnarekha Ghat in suburban Ranchi’s Bada Ghaghra.
Officials from the district administration, who inspected the Swarnarekha Ghat on Sunday, said that even though the bodies would be cremated in the traditional way, all necessary protocols for cremation of Covid-infected bodies would be followed.
The incinerator at Mukti Dham in Harmu has been used for cremation of Covid-infected bodies since the entry of the virus in Jharkhand in March 2020. However, RMC officials said that the incinerator broke down on Sunday due to overburden.
As per latest data with the National Health Mission (NHM), as many as 1232 people have died of Covid-19 infection in the state so far. Jharkhand has reported 118 Covid deaths in the month of April, and at least 50 of these victims were residents of Ranchi, highlights data compiled by the NHM.
