NASHIK — Neeta waits patiently for her number to be called, so that she can bid a final farewell to her father and go back home. It’s already been four hours since she came to the Amar Dham crematorium, where there is a backlog of bodies waiting to be cremated. One of those belongs to Neeta’s father, Yashwant Koladkar, who died in a hospital in Nashik, due to lack of oxygen, after fighting a severe COVID-19 infection for six days.
The cremation staff has been working according to a numbering system. “Mera number nahi aaya ab tak (My number hasn’t come yet),” says Neeta, who seems to be frustrated now. More than the grief of losing her father, it’s the wait that’s troubling her. She just wants to get it over with and leave.
The queue to cremate is a daily sight over here. At any given time, 10 or more pyres burn while others queue up for the last rites of their loved ones. Most are COVID-19-related deaths. As cases and deaths mount in Maharashtra, Nashik is no different.
The records at the crematorium mention at least 100 bodies being disposed of per day, of which at least 60 are coronavirus-related deaths. And yet, this does not reflect in the government records, which show a daily count of nine or 10 COVID deaths in city and a total of 57 in the district.
We ran out of space, and now we allow the pyres on pavements, open grounds, even the banks of the river.
