Dead under water: Burials, cremations put on hold for hours

CHENNAI: Cyclone Michaung mauled every life in its way in the city, and did not leave the dead to be. Several cremations and burials were delayed for hours leaving the bereaving family in stress.

Though the situation in the corporation burial grounds is now normal, caretakers recalled the tough times during the cyclone and after when the city was inundated.

“A human being should be treated with dignity during their last voyage. Regardless of faith, the bereaving families rely on us to provide the best funeral rights. We did our best, but there’s a need for more funds and the infrastructure should be spruced up,” admitted city corporation insiders.

There’s water stagnation in many cemeteries and graveyards. The Otteri Corporation burial ground was submerged under 5 feet of water. “Records in the graveyard were lost during the floods which contained details of the dead and their families. Also, the crematorium’s chimney broke during the rains and has to be repaired by the company,” said Bhaskar YM, caretaker of the Otteri burial ground.

Some of the tombs in the Otteri ground are still under water even after a week of floods. The non-functional or damaged cremation machinery has been a very common issue in the city.

The Kilpauk corporation cemetery was also stagnated during the floods. “When compared to the 2015-floods, the rain was more this year. Trees were uprooted and the cemetery choked with water for 3 days. We had to send back the bodies to the nearest Government Hospitals. Burial happened after the soil dried up,” said Madhurai Veeran, caretaker of Kilpauk Cemetery.

From December 3-7, there were no cremations in the burial grounds at Mylapore and Krishnampet. “Cremations began on December 7 with just 2 people. Now, the situation is limping back to normalcy,” said S Iniyan, in-charge of the burial grounds. “There were no cremations till December 7 as the gasifier machines were damaged. These machines run on electricity and LPG. Fortunately, they have been working from December 8.”

In Krishnampet, there was over 5 feet of water but the cremation area was free from it. So, the bodies which came from Mylapore were cremated here. “There were power-cuts but we managed to cremate using generators,” he added.

When contacted, an official in the Greater Chennai Corporation said that all burial grounds were getting cleared. “Zonal officers are taking actions to resolve the issue. The machineries that got damaged due to inundation will be repaired earliest,” he added.