Covid deaths push Ludhiana’s only LPG crematorium to its limits

It is 4 am on Wednesday morning. At Ludhiana’s only LPG crematorium, a priest, Pankaj Sharma, is busy reciting mantras before cremation of a 68-year-old woman from Tajganj who died due to coronavirus infection. A few hours later at 10 am, a 50-year-old Covid patient from Durga Nagar is brought here for her last rites. And then at 3 pm, a 73-year-old Covid-19 victim is cremated. “Three more are lined up. Cremations will continue here till midnight,” says priest Pankaj Sharma as he hurries to cope with the job at hand.

Since April 18, Ramgarhia cremation ground in Ludhiana has seen cremations of 85 coronavirus patients (Official figures, however put Covid fatalities in Ludhiana at 79). The crematorium has only one LPG chamber, which was set up four years back, but had remained unused till the pandemic outbreak. By Monday, another LPG chamber is likely to become operational here.