Slum dwellers grapple with smoke, stench and fear of disease

New delhi: The smoke hangs in an ash grey cloud over their homes and the acrid smell from more than 200 cremations a day doesn't leave, they say, permeating as it were their very pores. For the residents of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Camp, living next to a crematorium is as much a struggle as keeping COVID-19 at bay.

Being in such close proximity to a crematorium is never easy, say the residents of the slum colony in West Delhi. 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.

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.

"It is very scary. 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.

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.

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. Half of Saroj's house also got burnt in the fire. And just as she was recovering came the weeklong lockdown aimed at breaking the chain of COVID-19 transmission.

Though there are no official figures, Saroj's neighbour, 35-year-old Kakoli Devi, said about 300 bodies were cremated on Thursday. In the last two days, about 200-250 bodies were cremated. "We have arranged for a truck and we will leave this place for our village in Maharajganj (in Uttar Pradesh)," Kakoli said.

"Everyone is holed up inside the house. We don't even switch the fans on because we fear we will get Corona through the air. The atmosphere has been particularly traumatic for children," said the widow with three children. Many residents said it was not so bad earlier because the cremations took place at the far end of the crematorium.

Now with the numbers going up, the entire area is being used. When the residents protested, officials, they said, told them they have government orders to do so.