"This will leave a deep impression on their mental well-being and thinking," he said. Sanjay Gupta, director of CHETNA (Childhood Enhancement Through Training and Action), is worried about the long-term impact.Ĭhildren, already living in tough lives, are seeing corpses of Covid patients being burnt day and night in front of them. "They are not given any protective gear and are being tempted with money - the more the number of bodies they carry, the more they money. Vijay Kumar, a social worker at child rights NGO CHETNA, said many children are into substance abuse and are being roped in by crematorium workers to help in carrying the bodies. "Where do we go? if we leave, what will we earn? Already our earnings have drastically reduced in this corona pandemic," said the young boy who does part-time domestic chores in Paschim Vihar. This is where his family has lived for decades. How can we afford it? she asked.Īnother 12-year-old said some have the option of returning to their villages but he doesn't have any place to go. "They fear we will carry corona with us so we are thinking of returning to our village. The stigma of living adjacent to a crematorium has also led to some people losing their jobs as domestic workers in the upscale Paschim Vihar colony near by.Ī 16-year-old girl, who worked as a part-time domestic help, said her employers asked her not to come to work because her house is close to a shamshan ghat'. "Some days we just drink water, some days we get food through NGOs. With the cases rising, she has lost her job as a ragpicker. Saroj, who lives with seven family members, including three children, is also planning to go back to her village in Uttar Pradesh. When the residents protested, officials, they said, told them they have government orders to do so. Now with the numbers going up Delhi on Saturday recorded 357 deaths, its highest yet, and over 24,000 fresh cases the entire area is being used. Many residents said it was not so bad earlier because the cremations took place at the far end of the crematorium. Several people had left earlier as the second wave of COVID-19 gathered pace and those that are left fear their homes won't be livable for much longer given the continuous smell and stench. Many others, mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, are also planning to leave for their villages. The atmosphere has been particularly traumatic for children," said the widow with three children. We don't even switch the fans on because we fear we will get corona through the air. At least we will be spared this constant looming feeling of death," Kakoli said. "We have arranged for a truck and we will leave this place for our village in Maharajganj (in Uttar Pradesh). In the last two days, about 200-250 bodies were cremated. Though there are no official figures, Saroj's neighbour, 35-year-old Kakoli Devi, said about 300 bodies were cremated on Thursday. Half of Saroj's house also got burnt in the fire.Īnd just as she was recovering came the weeklong lockdown aimed at breaking the chain of COVID-19 transmission. There were no casualties but 30 shanties were burnt. On the night of April 14, a fire broke out in the slum cluster and Saroj and scores of her neighbours are still recovering from that. The fear of contracting COVID-19 is constant and the glowing fires from the crematorium that now operates 24X7 allows neither peace of mind nor sleep, she said. We keep seeing ambulances pass by and constantly there is smell and smoke, whether it is day or night," the 38-year-old ragpicker told PTI. They wake up to the smell of burning bodies and sleep to it at night, said Saroj, one of the 1,500 odd people living in the 900 shanties in the slum colony located just a few metres away from the Paschim Puri crematorium. But when the number of bodies being burnt goes up from about three to four a day to about 200-250, it's about visitations of death and also the fear of the contagion looming large over every aspect of their lives.
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