Relief for kin as Namma Team ensures smooth cremation of bodies

Bengaluru: With the rising Covid cases in the mid of April the death toll climbed in Bengaluru and the long waiting hours at the crematoriums prompted the government machinery to scale up the infrastructure.

The immediate concern of the government was not only to bring down the number of Covid cases but also reduce the waiting time. Namma Team joined hands with the government to act as a balm to the grieving families who used to spend hours, sometime till morning 1 am to 2 am for the cremation of the bodies of the victims.

Abdul Razak N who heads the cremation support of the Namma Team recalled that in the midst of the mayhem the government formed the cremation task force.

"The pressure on the existing crematoriums was mounting. We also had to track the cremations since there were complaints such as someone jumping the queue or trying to use influence," he said.

Major Manivannan who was the vice chairman of the government appointed crematorium task force got Namma Team involved in the process. "Manivannan wanted everything to be centralised. In early May, the team in Bengaluru and the United States developed a software within 72 hours. The helpline executives booked the cremation slots and the Namma Team volunteers used to coordinate with the deceased families, crematorium staff, hospitals and ambulance drivers etc," Razak added.

The slots were booked through the helpline number. Razak remarked that nobody had to go to take the tours of the crematoriums to book the slot. "We used to receive the details after a slot was booked. Here on, our volunteers used to assist families which included if they needed an ambulance. We used to coordinate with the families and the ambulance drivers as well," he said.

Initially the helpline used to receive 350 calls approximately which has now dropped to less than 100.

One of the most disturbing incidents which Razak recalled was the cremation of a 16 days old baby.

"The family was from Andhra Pradesh and they refused to come to the crematorium. The family did not want the video or the photograph of the cremation of the baby as well since it was a moment of despair. I also remember the cremation of a 7-day-old baby," he shared.

Meanwhile, Razak was parallely running an Emergency Response Team (ERT) team in Visakhapatnam.