Chennai struggles to lay its dead to rest

December 10, 2015 08:57

As the floods forced most of Chennai and neighbouring districts to shut down, crematoriums and burial grounds worked overtime to cope with the spike in the number of bodies coming in. With burial grounds flooded too, many bodies had to be sent elsewhere, while some were tied to poles and trees so they wouldn't get wet.

A grave digger at a burial ground near Marina beach said he had been working round the clock along with two others since the floods hit the state. "Most of the bodies were badly decayed," he said.

While the government is yet to release the official death toll, police estimate the figure touched 514 on Wednesday. "Most of the casualties are from Chennai and two neighbouring districts," said an officer.

Corporation officials in charge of city crematoriums said they were helpless. "While the weekly average is 25-30 bodies, all functional burial grounds had more than 100 burials in the last one week," one official said.

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