Delhi Gate cemetery may soon run out of burial space as Covid death toll continues to rise in the national capital: Reports

Though there is still space for burial of more bodies, the rate at which people are succumbing to coronavirus, the cemetery may soon run out of space, authorities said.

“The graveyard, near Daryaganj here that is functional since 1924, has been receiving 10-12 bodies of Covid-19 patients daily for burial for the past few days, Since April 1, nearly 300 bodies have been buried by following Covid-19 protocol at the graveyard. There is space for 100-150 more burials at the cemetery spread over nearly 50 acres,” Masroor Siddiqui, a member of the cemetery’s management committee was quoted as saying by the Times Now.

They fear by the end of the month there may not be any land left for the last rites of the dead as the cemetery is accepting bodies of victims of coronavirus whereas other burial grounds are not.

According to a Delhi Waqf Board official, Covid-19 victims are being buried at Mongolpuri, Dwarka, Khadar and Ghazipur grounds as well following all the set protocols, but graveyard near Delhi Gate is witnessing the maximum number of burials, said the Times Now report.

“However, the graveyard near Delhi Gate is witnessing the maximum number of burials. A total 299 burials following Covid-19 protocol were conducted till date,” the official was quoted as saying in the report.

However, the municipal corporation officials, citing data from the crematoria and burial sites, have claimed the Covid-19 deaths in Delhi have crossed 2,000 against the official data of  984 till Wednesday.

The senior leaders of municipal corporations said that the number of deaths from Covid-19 in Delhi is 2,098, an NDTV report said.

The report quoting chairperson of the Standing Committee of the NDMC Jai Prakash said that there have been  1,080 deaths under  South Delhi Municipal Corporation, 976 under North Delhi Municipal Corporation, and 42 under East Delhi Municipal Corporation.