Jamshedpur, May 9: Amidst rising cases of Covid deaths, all the six electric furnaces at two separate steel city burning ghats have gone non-functional due to overload of bodies coming for cremation.
In a record jump amidst rising cases of Covid, a total of 1025 fresh cases were reported in the last 24 hours. For the first time during the second COVID-19 wave in Jamshedpur, record cases have been reported. City reported 25 deaths on Sunday while 911 people recovered of the virus. District’s positive cases tally has mounted to 41827. According to the data provided by the East Singhbhum district health department 25 fatalities were due to the Covid-19 infection in the last 24 hours, The death toll has climbed to 819. The total active cases are 6772.
Meanwhile, all four furnaces at Bhuiyandih-based Subanarekha ghat have stopped operating, two at Parvati ghat in Jugsalai are also not functioning.
Subarnarekha ghat is facing a crisis as over 50 bodies are coming for cremation daily. With the furnaces not functioning, Covid bodies are also being cremated on wood.
Subarnarekha ghat managing committee official confirmed all the four furnaces have gone off due to overload of bodies. “ The death cases are on the rise and this has led to additional burden. The furnaces stopped functioning one after another. We hope that one of the furnaces would be functional tomorrow while the rest would also be in order in two-three days. Covid bodies were also being cremated on wood. There’s no other option,“ he noted.
Parvati ghat managing committee official also said that work is on to repair the furnaces and it would take a day or two to make them operational.
According to him, the coils of the furnaces were damaged due to the overload. “The spread of virus has led to adverse to impact on the furnaces. They broke down since bodies are coming for cremation one after another. The furnaces have limited capacity. Around 25 bodies are cremated in both the furnaces, which functioned for over 13 hours without a break,” he said.
