Pics: In Ludhiana, bodies of Covid patients arrive at crematorium in autos, rickshaws

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 26

In a stark reality of how the second Covid wave has hit the health infrastructure, bodies of patients succumbing to the virus are being brought to the crematorium in Ludhiana in autorickshaws and cyclerickshaws without following the safety protocol.

“Forget beds in hospitals, the deceased are being denied dignity even in death,” says the family of a 76-year-old man from Focal Point in Ludhiana who died of Covid on Monday.

Unable to arrange an ambulance to carry the body, his wife and other relatives opted for an autorickshaw.

“The hospital failed to arrange an ambulance nor could we. Left with no option and after a long wait, we got the body in an autorickshaw. Tough times indeed!” said the deceased’s wife said, her voice choking with emotions.

A few hours later, another body of a Covid patient arrived at the crematorium in Focal Point–in a covered rickshaw.

Kanta Rani (60) was admitted to the Civil Hospital. Her sons narrated the same story of helplessness and failure to arrange an ambulance. “How long could we have waited for an ambulance or a hearse van. The cremation had to be done today,” they said.

There have also been reports of ambulance owners charging hefty amounts to carry Covid victims–Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 for a few km distance.

Ranjodh Singh, president of Ramgarhia Educational Trust and Ramgarhia Shamshan Ghat which is cremating the bodies of Covid victims since last year, said, “The haunting scenes at the cremation grounds depict how we are trapped between a raging pandemic and a crumbling healthcare system.”

He called as inhuman and shameful the incidents of deceased’s families being fleeced by some private ambulance owners. 

Senior Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, Dr Amarjit Kaur said one such case had come to her notice. “It is a lapse on the part of the staff which handed over the body without following protocol. I enquired and came to know that the family was insisting on taking the body as early as possible. We had nine deaths of Covid patients at Ludhiana Civil Hospital today and the families were asked to wait a little and let the ambulance return. Still, I have asked for an explanation from my staff,” she said.