Dead bodies piling in SMCH's morgue; No electric 'Chulha' in Silchar Samshan, cremations delayed; Karimganj might come in rescue

Silchar Medical College and Hospital’s morgue is set to run out of space. The number of people dying per day is SMCH’s COVID ward has increased manifold over the last couple of weeks.

The principal cum chief-superintendent of Silchar Medical College and Hospital said that the dead bodies are getting pilled up because of delay in cremation. “The district administration is not able to cremate bodies as there is a lot of resistance in society. They have managed one pyre and at best they are able to cremate two to three dead bodies a day,” Dr. Babul Bezbaruah asserted.

He added, “Now, unfortunately, if five people died and two are cremated, three are left in the morgue. This is the reason why the bodies are getting pilled up. Now if Silchar Crematorium had an electric furnace, we would not have faced this problem.”

After marathon discussions with the members of civic society, the Cachar district administration has convinced locals to allocate one pyre in Silchar Samshan for the cremation of COVID victims. However, one pyre can at the most support up to three funerals per day as it takes time. The association with the responsibility of cremating bodies said that after following all the protocols, they manage to cremate two bodies at best in one day.

The demand for an electric furnace is long pending in Silchar. When Sushmita Dev was a member of parliament, she had demanded this on record during a session in Narendra Modi’s first term.

“Piyush Goyal (Minister) gave an assurance in Parliament that the government will approve the project and I must write to the ministry. I immediately wrote to them and they replied to my letter by asking Silchar Municipality Board to submit a proposal,” said former MP Sushmita Dev.

She added, “Prabir Babu’s association Vivek Bahini worked hard to get this approved and they even submitted an estimate. But Nihar Thakur’s Municipality board did not pay any attention to it and that is why Silchar does not have an electric furnace.”

Niharendra Narayan Thakur, the former chairman of the Municipality board has put the ball on MP and MLA’s court. Talking about the electric furnace, he says, “Yes, it’s true that the MP had raised the issue in Parliament. Actually, in 2015 we wanted ONGC to do the project. But the ONGC kept finding loopholes and the dilatory practice kept delaying the project. So, with in the support of all ward commissioners, both ruling and opposition we got this project under the City Infrastructure Development Scheme. The project has been approved.”

He adds, “Now, it lies with the MP and MLA who are the members of CIDS.”

The officers in ONGC Srikona rebutted saying their approach was not dilatory but the problem was with the estimates given by the Silchar Municipality Board. “While in Delhi, such crematoriums are built for Rs 1.4 to 1.8 crore, the SMB’s proposal was upwards of Rs 3 crore. Now, if we send this project to our headquarters we would be in problem. So, that is why we asked the SMB to revise the proposal. It is unfortunate that the SMB Chairman decided to put the blame on ONGC when he himself did not cooperate,” said the officer of ONGC who was dealing with the municipality board.

Prabir Roy Choudhury of Vivek Bahini also blames Niharendra Narayan Thakur for the delay. “Coal Minister Piyush Goyal’s office wrote to us stating that they will approve the project and get it done whatever the cost might be. Former MP, Sushmita Dev even spoke to the senior officials of ONGC. Vivek Bahini even gave an estimate of Rs 2.4 crore which the ministry wanted the Municipality Board to propose through its office as the land belongs to them. But chairman Niharendra Narayan Thakur did not,” asserts Roy Choudhury.

Roy Choudhury adds, “Instead of sending the proposal to Coal Ministry, he said the board will do it themselves. They got someone from Kolkata and spent another lakh for the proposal of Rs 3.4 crore, but nothing happened.”

At a time when the Prime Minister of India talks about conservation of nature and pollution control, cremation in heart of the town takes place by burning tyre and wood. It takes hours to complete a cremation.

While the blame game continues in Cachar, a one-chamber electric furnace is ready in Karimganj and can come in rescue. North Karimganj, MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha says the committee has decided to use the newly built electric chamber for the cremation of COVID victims.

“We started working on this project in 2015 and it has cost the government Rs 1.8 crore. The furnace is ready and it’s safe for the cremation of COVID victims. So, I think this will help the entire Barak Valley at this time of distress. Especially when people across are apprehensive and obstructing cremation, the electric furnace can come in good use of all three districts. It will take 45 minutes to complete the cremation of one body,” added Dey Purkayastha.

Will dead bodies get transferred to Karimganj from Silchar Medical College and Hospital? What the administration decides, remains to be seen.