For them, invisible virus evokes more fear than dead bodies! By Aditya Waghmare

When asked about the change he is seeing amidst pandemic, Govind said very few people now come to gather ash of a family member who dies of COVID-19 disease. Echoing Govind, caretaker of Begumpura crematorium Ramu Gaikwad said arranging stuff for funeral and staying behind closed doors has become his routine since the last three-four months.

Govind Gaikwad gets tensed as soon as he hears a blaring siren of an ambulance and doesn't feel at ease until the premises of a crematorium here, which is his home, are disinfected. For Govind, fear of contracting the infection is always real as he is closely involved in completing last rites of bodies, and then returning to his wife and children who live in a small room at Pushpanagri crematorium.

"We are used to handle bodies, sometimes mutilated ones. But this situation is different. As soon as I hear siren of an ambulance, I feel scared," Govind told PTI. My children used to play in the campus of the crematorium, but now we do not let them move out of the house.

"We eagerly wait for the arrival of sanitisation apparatus. We feel relieved after the premises is sanitised," he said. Govind and his colleagues gather ash after cremating bodies.

"We have equipment to carry out these tasks, but that doesn't lessen our fear," he said. When asked about the change he is seeing amidst pandemic, Govind said very few people now come to gather ash of a family member who dies of COVID-19 disease.

Echoing Govind, caretaker of Begumpura crematorium Ramu Gaikwad said arranging stuff for funeral and staying behind closed doors has become his routine since the last three-four months. This crematorium is located in neighbourhood of the Government Medical College where critical COVID-19 patients remain admitted.

As of July 13, Aurangabad district has 8,650 cases while the death toll stood at 354. "We had seen bodies that were in bad shape, but never felt fear. But this invisible virus is a threat," Ramu said.

He said his elderly father still works in the crematorium. "I help him for his work. I and my family have been living here for years, but never felt so afraid in our lives," he said.

Explaining the new protocol for cremation of COVID-19 patients, he said we just register names and arrange wood for funeral before the arrival of a dead body. "After making these arrangements, our family remains locked behind doors of our house," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)