'After waiting 14 hours, we were able to perform grandma's last rites'

When the family reached the crematorium they were told there were 10 last rites before theirs

As if having a COVID-19 patient at home wasn't tough enough, family members of patients who lose their lives are also having trouble cremating their loved onestoo. Ill-managed crematoriums are resulting in long queues for the last rites.

Family members also have to shell out Rs 300 per hour to ambulance drivers for waiting with the bodies of COVID-19 victims until their turn arrives.

Outside the crematorium in Daulat nagar, Borivli East, relatives of the deceased have been complaining about having to wait for hours to perform the last rites of the victims. Chirag Pandey (name changed), 28, who lost his 80-year-old grandmother, said that before she was admitted to Shatabdi hospital in Kandivli West, she had tested negative for COVID, and the family was informed of a positive test two days after admission. She was kept in the Corona ward despite testing negative.

"We rushed to the hospital when we were informed that she had died. When we asked the ambulance service provider, they asked for R12,000 to carry her to the crematorium. After informing the owner of financial difficulties, he budged but still asked for R300 per hour to wait outside the crematorium," said Pandey.

The family reached the Borivli crematorium early Thursday morning only to be informed that there were 10 last rites to be performed before theirs. "At 7 pm, after waiting for 14 hours, we were able to perform her last rites," Pandey told mid-day.

He ended up paying Ra 4,800 to the ambulance driver.

'Illegal to hold ambulance'

Ambulance service provider Sailesh Sakpal said that it was illegal to make an ambulance wait. The crematorium staff should have unloaded the body and relieved the ambulance for emergencies and ferrying other patients. The families would not have to pay waiting charges.

An employee working at the crematorium said that they have been having a lot of bodies coming in from Kandivli, Andheri, Borivli and Dahisar. "It takes about 2 hours to burn one body on the pyre and due to Corona, there is a load of dead coming in with a backlog of at least 10 to 12 bodies," he said.

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