Heat overwhelms Manikarnika Ghat: Over 700 cremations in 48 hrs
As residents of Varanasi lined up to vote on Saturday, another sombre queue formed from Maidagin to Mokshdwar in the holy city, where people brought bodies for cremation at Manikarnika Ghat.
For the second consecutive day, the ancient cremation ground witnessed an unprecedented surge in bodies arriving for last rites. Over the past 48 hours, more than 700 bodies have been cremated—three times the usual number for this ghat.
Bodies from Varanasi and neighboring districts are regularly brought to Manikarnika Ghat for cremation, as it is believed that those cremated here attain salvation.
Dom Raja Om Chaudhary, responsible for managing the last rites at the ghat, attributed the sudden increase in bodies to the severe heatwave gripping the region.
Director of the Met Office, Manish Ranalkar, explained that the heatwave conditions across Uttar Pradesh are due to clear skies, westerly winds from Rajasthan, and increasing humidity from easterly winds. The combination of high temperatures and humidity has significantly raised discomfort levels.
The heatwave has led to a spike in deaths. Five polling staff in Mirzapur collapsed and died due to the extreme heat. Government officials stated that only post-mortems can confirm whether deaths are heatwave-related. However, Dom Raja Om Chaudhry asserted, "The stream of dead bodies being brought for cremation shows that fatalities have increased, and it is only because of the heat."
The streets from Maidagin to Mokshdwar were lined with bodies, leaving little space for movement. The influx was so overwhelming that bodies had to be stacked one on top of the other due to the lack of space. Records show that on May 24, 147 bodies were cremated, followed by 161 on May 25, 159 on May 26, 88 on May 27, 133 on May 28, 169 on May 29, and over 400 on May 30.
The bodies that had arrived far exceeded the ghat’s capacity to handle cremations. Typically, Manikarnika Ghat can manage 25 to 30 cremations simultaneously. The sheer volume led to long waiting times, with some families waiting up to five hours for their turn to cremate.
Mahendra Kumar Gupta, who brought a relative's body to the ghat, described the dire situation. "There is no wood available at the ghat. We never imagined it would be like this," he said. The wood shortage forced some families to consider burning two bodies on a single pyre. Others, unable to procure wood there, took their deceased to other ghats.
Addressing the infrastructure and resource management aspects, SDM Sarthak Agarwal pointed out, "The Municipal Corporation is responsible for the ghat. If there is any problem, it will be fixed." Additional Municipal Commissioner Dushyant Maurya added, "When the number of dead bodies increased, additional employees have been deployed. It is the responsibility of the Municipal Corporation. Work will be done immediately to resolve the problems of the people."