Rising Covid-19 deaths push Delhi’s largest cemetery at ITO to brink

NEW DELHI: The rise in coronavirus-linked deaths in the Capital, and the relatively complicated and space-consuming protocols set to bury those who have died or are suspected to have died of the pathogen, are pushing the largest Muslim cemetery in the city to the brink, according to officials who say it may run out of space if the rate of Covid-19 deaths continues to spike.

The problem, the officials said, is that these bodies take up more space than other bodies, and the land they are buried in cannot be reused, unlike when other dead bodies are buried there.

In April, when hospitals across the city first started sending bodies to the cemetery in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) suits, the authorities earmarked a two-acre space within the 44-acre cemetery for those who were infected with Covid-19.

“No one knew then that we would get so many bodies. We have already buried such 193 bodies since April 3,” Haji Mian Faiyazuddin, the secretary of New Cemetery for Mohammedans (Qabristan Ahle Islam), said.

Though Delhi’s total Covid-19 death toll, according to the Delhi government bulletin on Tuesday, was 556, it was not clear how many of those buried in the cemetery were listed in the figures as confirmed cases.

“The protocol is the same for suspected and confirmed Covid-19 deaths. They cannot be buried next to the other non-Covid bodies. Instead of the normal four-by-three, we have to dig a hole that is 12 feet deep and four feet wide. We also have to keep extra space between bodies. That means much more space than a normal burial,” Faiyazuddin said.

Apart from the ITO cemetery, two other cemeteries at Shastri Park and Mangolpuri have been allowed to accept Covid-19 confirmed and suspected cases. The other grounds are smaller in size and measure less than five acres each.

Faiyazuddin said the space at the ITO burial ground has anyway been filing up over the years. “This cemetery was started in 1924. In the time to come, there will be a problem for non-Covid bodies too; but burying Covid-19 bodies is the immediate problem. The rate at which we are getting the bodies, the government should provide some other space immediately. It should be earmarked far away from the main city,” he said.

On Monday evening, the Delhi District Management Authority (DDMA) wrote to all district magistrates (DMs) asking them to identify space to create more cremation and burial grounds far from residential areas.

The additional chief executive officer (CEO) of the DDMA, Rajesh Goyal, in a letter to the DMs, asked them to find such spaces and provide the requisite information on “topmost priority”. HT has seen a copy of the letter.

The Delhi Waqf Board’s chief executive officer, SM Ali, however said there was no problem of space at the ITO graveyard, and added that there were other options. “Burial grounds across the city are managed by our committees, which are allowed to create more space in the graveyard by taking necessary steps, if required. We have enough of graveyards dedicated to bury Covid-19 related bodies in the city, so there is no need to panic.”

Officials at the ITO graveyard, however, held a different view.

The supervisor of the cemetery, Shamim, said that in April the cemetery got only 3-4 Covid-19 bodies every day, which was manageable.

“But the numbers have increased now. On Sunday, we got eight bodies; nine bodies were brought on Saturday. Unlike the non-Covid burial space, we cannot dig the same ground and bury another body after a year, so this space cannot be used again. It is gone forever. We may have space for around 300 more bodies -- no more than that,” he said.

Another official said, asking not to be named, added: “NonCovid bodies can be buried in four-feet holes. We do it manually, but for Covid deaths, we use the [eathmover] machine. We pay Rs 3,000 for the machine per body. The bodies come wrapped in PPE kit and are lowered using ropes. We also have to keep a distance of at least four feet between two bodies. People come here from across the city. Either we bury only confirmed Covid bodies if the government says the numbers are less or the within a month, we will run out of space.”

A Delhi government spokesperson did not respond to queries seeking a comment.