'Cremated first body with just mask on and sanitiser'

Furnace Operator At Cityrsquos First Covid19 CrematoriumNitin Hiraman Nagothkar 49 MumbaiStaff Shivaji Park CrematoriumTHE first mortal remains of a person who had succumbed to COVID19 came on March 17 2020 Until then we had only heard of the pandemic from news stories around the world We were not really worried about it in MumbaiWhen the body arrived that day our only safety precautions were the mask and hand sanitiser PPE kits gloves and goggles became the norm for daytoday work later But that day all we knew was that COVID19 would spread by touching people and metal Plastic was safeI have been working with crematoriums for 19 years Before that I was working at a BMC hospital and getting a promotion here I first joined the Bhoiwada crematorium then Worli and finally came to Shivaji Park four years ago I didnrsquot think much at the time about joining a crematorium Irsquod have to work somewhere I was fine with thisBut the last year has been unlike any other for me at work Within three months we witnessed an entire yearrsquos average The daily average in April May and June was nearly 22 bodies One ambulance bringing in the body of a COVID19 victim would be chased by another There was no break Our situation was as bad as that of other crematoriums in the city and we have two furnaces Therersquod be a long line of bodies waiting to be cremated And diseased bodies ie those that had COVID TB etc and have been pumped with medicines take longer to cremate than regular ones It was only in August that numbers started reducingOf course we were scared For ourselves and our families I have two children and my colleagues have one child each But I couldnrsquot sit at home afraid It would add to the pressure for everyone else So wersquod take as many precautions as we couldmdashchanging clothes before leaving for home washing ourselves at home before interacting with family and wearing a PPE kit at the crematoriumOnce I got myself tested simply because I felt I had been around so many COVID19 cases I wasnrsquot showing any symptoms But when the reports came back a week later I had tested positive And so I quarantined at home for 15 days and then joined work againThe good thing is that our safety supplies never stopped Whether we wanted PPE kits or sanitisers we got what we neededI also live in Shivaji Park and have heard of concerns of other residents that the cremation of COVID19 bodies here will put them at risk But a body is burnt at temperatures of 600 degree Celcius and above At that temperature not an ounce of any infection is left behind We as workers didnrsquot and perhaps couldnrsquot fear for our lives while handling the bodyThe bodies came wrapped in plastic and cloth But eventually wersquod have to touch them pick them up There was no point getting frightened Itrsquos in fact the relatives were feared more since we didnrsquot know who they had mingled with Life is more normal now We have gone into a routine and the pressure that we faced at the peak last year is no longer there While we still take precautions the anxiety has waned