A Gurgaon crematorium that is working round-the-clock amid Covid surge.
In Haryana's Millenium City Gurgaon, hospitals are running low on oxygen and crematoriums are running out of space with thousands of fresh Covid infections added to the caseload in the last few days.
Patients and their families blame the authorities as the city, according to them, has been caught off guard by the surge in infections.
Sidhant Chadha, 33, broke into tears as he spoke to NDTV. He and his sister Srishti Chadha, 30, felt helpless as they went around looking for medical oxygen for their 67-year-old father who is on a ventilator at Gurugram's Mayom Hospital.
"We are fighting a war without any weapons. This government wants to kill people. This is atrocious. The lack of oxygen might kill him. The injections (for his treatment) costed Rs 40,000-50,00. We are begging people for help for everything. The government should have been prepared for this. One year into the pandemic and we do not have basic resources," Sidharth, who was exaperated, shared.
His sister Srishti pleaded for help as she said: "There is extreme shortage of oxygen at the hospital. My father is on NIV support at 60 litres per hour of oxygen consumption. The pressure dipped and he has been moved to the ventilator. They asked us to bring oxygen cylinders and we did but cylinders lasted only for some time, and he will not make it if there is no oxygen support in the hospital. Whoever can reach with cylinders then please come here."
Dr Manish Prakash, CEO of Mayom Hospital, said, "There are 19 ICU patients who need oxygen. Six of them are on ventilator. We have 75 total Covid patients. We have supply only for next 45 minutes. Family members of patients are getting cylinders refilled and helping us. We have contacted government officials but there is no clarity on when we will get supplies."
Mayom Hospital managed through the day on cylinders refilled by the staff members or relatives of patients but SOS calls like these are being sent out nearly everyday.
Dr Manoj Dutta, Medical Director of Metro Superspeciality Hospital, said, "We have 10 patients on ventilator. 12 others are on high flow oxygen. Their life is in danger. Supply has been erratic. There is no permanent solution in sight. We are struggling a lot."
Gurugram administration has now formed a five-member committee to assess the demand of medical oxygen and manage its transportation and distribution. This team will ensure that a buffer stock of 10 metric tonnes is always available which can be distributed in case of emergencies.
Outside the crematoriums, long queues can be seen as family members struggle to perform the last rites of their loved ones
At the Rambagh Crematorium in Madanpuri, rows of ambulances, open trucks carrying dead bodies can be seen parked outside. There is space for cremation of 30 bodies in a day but is receiving far more.
Ashok, who came for the cremation of his 67-year-old mother, said, "I have been waiting at the crematorium for over for hours but there is a very long queue."
Even the adjacent parking lot is now being used for cremations overnight. Official figures cite only seven deaths on Monday and 10 on Tuesday but there were 90 cremations here on Monday and 60 on Tuesday.
35-year-old Shyam, who lives near the crematorium, told NDTV, "I have lived here all my life. In 35 years I have never witnessed a situation like this. On usual days, the crematorium used to shut by 6 PM. But now it runs round the clock. All these additional bodies are cremated in the open parking lot and the smoke and fumes enter our houses. We can't even open our windows at any point. This crematorium is in the middle of a residential area. Psychologically also it is very disturbing to see funeral pyres lit up all night and we understand the pain of those who have lost their loved ones."
Officials refused to give a statement on camera but claimed that the discrepancy is due to the high number of patients from Delhi and Ghaziabad who are also coming here for cremation.
Gurgaon is recording over 3,500 infections on a daily basis and has nearly 30,000 active Covid cases. The positivity rate is 32 per cent. There have been over 450 deaths till date.