Mysore/Mysuru: “In my 30 years of this profession, I had never seen so many dead bodies or heard cries of family members. I was very pained to see all these things”, said Mahadev, who works as contract worker of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) at Vijayanagar Electric Crematorium.

He has been doing the job of cremating bodies for the last three decades. Initially, he was working at the electric crematorium at the foothills of Chamundi Hill but now works at Vijayanagar Crematorium. “My job is to wear PPE kit, shift dead bodies from the ambulances and push inside the furnace with 600-700 degree centigrade. It will take one hour for the body to turn into ashes. By that time, some more bodies will be ready for cremation which goes on amidst crying by family members and smoke from the furnace. This starts from morning and goes on till night. When this is my profession, there is no point of fear”, Mahadev added.

Initially, Prior to February 2020, only two to three bodies were coming daily and it rose to 5-10 bodies during first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. In second wave, ambulances were bringing 30-35 dead bodies daily. He was not finding time even to have lunch. “I used to leave home at 8 am and return around 11 pm due to work pressure.”

Before allowing cremation at Jayanagar and Jodi Tenginamara Burial Grounds using firewood, around 35 bodies were brought to Vijayanagar and Chamundi foothill crematoriums daily. Now, 4-5 bodies are brought to Vijayanagar crematorium daily, he noted.