BERHAMPUR: In the Covid hotspot Ganjam, funerals are fast becoming a lonely affair. As coronavirus rages on claiming more lives by the day, deaths not caused by the infectious disease are shunned by the near and dear ones.
Even hearse vans have lately been replaced by trolley rickshaws.
The spectre of fear did not spare the final journey of Buguda’s local hotelier Sanyasi Patra.
The 30-year-old was a popular man of the town, always surrounded by his well-wishers and friends but when he died on Monday, not even his near ones came forward to shoulder his body to the cremation ground.
His final journey was on a trolley rickshaw with his relatives and neighbours bidding him farewell from a safe distance.
Business was always brisk for Sanyasi. Last week, he complained of fever and since he suffered from other ailments, he decided to take rest at home with necessary medication.
When he breathed his last on Monday, it surprised everyone.
Suspecting that the hotelier may have died due to Covid-19, none of his neighbours agreed to shoulder the body.
Even his relatives were reluctant to accompany. Finding no other option, Sanyasi’s family members hired a trolley rickshaw, took his body to the crematorium and performed the last rites.
On Friday, a jeweller, Rajesh Patra (50) of the same area, also met a similar fate. Rajesh, a neurology patient, died at his home and had to be taken for cremation on a trolley rickshaw.
In the last one week, at least 15 persons of Buguda and adjacent areas have perished. They were either carried by PPE suit-clad persons or on trolley rickshaws to the cremation ground.