On the morning of March 17, Mumbai reported its first Covid-19 death. The Shivaji Park crematorium is one of the two places in Mumbai designated to cremate Covid-19 victims. And, the nearby Kasturba hospital is the only one permitted to treat Covid-19 victims. As per protocol, those who die from Covid-19 have to be cremated electrically. “No relative was let inside and no ashes were given to the family,” says Atul Thakur, 48, who, along with his two assistants, wore protective gear for the cremation. “Because it was a death resulting from a virus, ashes could not be handed over for fear of transmission.”
Naturally, Thakur is worried about contracting the virus and infecting his wife and children, aged 15 and eight. But he tells himself that once the body is dead, the virus, too, dies. “The incinerators work at over 600 degrees, so there is no chance of the virus surviving,” says Thakur, who works on eight-hour shifts daily and earns 045,000 per month. “This explanation is good enough for me to continue doing the job day in and day out.”