Maharashtra: Alone in shroud, the dead get unknown companions for funeral

At a time when the fear of contracting coronavirus infection is turning away people even from bidding a final farewell to their relatives, friends and neighbours, a few men in Nagpur do not hesitate in carrying the bier of the dead to crematoriums and performing their last rites as a social duty.

As the pandemic is raging in Nagpur like many other districts in Maharashtra and fatalities rising, people, in general, prefer to avoid attending funerals even in cases where the deceased are not COVID-19 victims. However, small families are bearing the brunt of this fear psychosis as they struggle to gather people for cremating their near and dear ones.

In this scenario, Eco-Friendly Living Foundation (EFLF) run by Vijay Limaye has come forward to help the people in distress in performing the last rites of their near and dear ones. Members of the EFLF bear the bier of the deceased person to the crematorium and also perform the last rites.

Vijay Limaye of the EFLF told PTI the organisation promotes the cause of eco-friendly cremation in association with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) under which briquettes made from the farm waste and agricultural residue are being used to cremate bodies, in place of wood logs.

This project is currently being run in six crematoriums in Nagpur. Limaye said the EFLF performed 5,040 cremations in an eco-friendly manner between April 1 2020 and March 31, 2021. However, in the ongoing month, they have cremated 1,350 bodies so far. He said the cremated people included COVID-19 victims and others. Limaye said members of his team carry the dead body from the house of the deceased to the crematorium on a bier. He is getting several such calls as kin of the deceased are finding it tough to take the body for the last rites in the absence of people.

Limaye cited the case of a mother of a 19-year-old who recently lost her husband. "Though the deceased man was not a COVID-19 patient, no one came forward to perform the last rites. As the woman and her daughter were struggling to get help one of their relatives in Pune informed them about our work. Our members carried the body on the bier and performed the last rites," he recalled.

Similarly, a 62-year-old man struggled to find people to carry his 90-year-old mother to the crematorium. "I sent my team to his house after one of their relatives contacted me," Limaye said. The EFLF had carried 8 to 9 biers in the last ten days, he added. On Tuesday, Nagpur district reported 101 COVID-19 fatalities, taking the toll to 7,126, as per an official.