Funeral queues, grieving families, gasping patients — these photos tell how Delhi is suffering

I have never seen a crematorium this full, people waiting in queues for hours. A worker told me how two families abandoned the bodies, fearing for own lives standing amid burning pyres.

Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi, which has been a designated crematorium for Covid victims, saw a sudden rise in the number of bodies after the second wave of the pandemic hit the country and capital Delhi. Grieving relatives had to stand in queues for interminable hours as the cremation ground became a sea of burning pyres and its electric burners billowed out spirals of smoke.

New Delhi: Ever since the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic struck, the national capital has witnessed its worst healthcare nightmare — long queues outside hospitals for beds, patients panting for breath but there is not enough medical oxygen – and crematoria or burial grounds are overwhelmed with a surge in the number of bodies.

People ran from one corner to another in search of oxygen and medicines for family members, while overburdened hospitals, crematoria and Covid care facilities bore testament to the nightmare, even as makeshift facilities sprung up to fill in for hospitals and private organisations stepped in to help with resources.

By the first half of April, Delhi was reporting more than 20,000 cases every day, with daily deaths rising to over 400. The Seemapuri crematorium, designated for Covid bodies, burnt hundreds of bodies every day.

I have never seen a crematorium this full, with people waiting in queues for hours for last rites of a dear one. One of the workers at the crematorium told me about two bodies that were abandoned by the family members as they did not want to wait in the queue, finding it unsafe for themselves.

Outside LNJP Hospital, one of Delhi’s biggest Covid facilities, the relatives of the family members sat on the footpath waiting to hear a word of hope. The patients inside were battling against Covid. A man came running to me for help, looking for a bed for his mother whose oxygen level had dipped to around 45. There was bed available at LNJP. I couldn’t do anything.

The atmosphere was morbid everywhere, to put it mildly. The last farewells were a difficult image to capture on camera. As a photojournalist, these are testing times for us too. Desperate patients and families looking up to us hoping we could help makes us more helpless. There were moments when just doing my daily job, that of clicking photos, seemed the most difficult task in the world.

A daughter with folded hands in front of her father’s funeral pyre at the Ghazipur cremation ground. The capital saw 18,169 funerals in April, of which 8,693 involved Covid patients | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

The entire Delhi-NCR was just as grim. At the Ghazipur crematorium, a cow wandered around the burning pyres looking for food | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

Bodies made a queue at Ghazipur. The crematorium was burning anything from four to 50 bodies each day | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

A common sight outside mortuary, hospitals and crematoria — family members clinging to each other, trying to cope with the pain of loss | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

Crematorium workers have to toil for longer hours now. In this photograph, one of them can be seen collecting the ashes, gently and with respect, after a Covid victim’s body was consigned to the flames | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

An elderly woman sucks in air from an oxygen cylinder at Shehnai banquet hall, which was converted into a Covid care facility, near LNJP Hospital. Family members of the patients said they were happy with the arrangements and doctors are taking good care | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

The Shehnai banquet hall, which was opened as a Covid facility last year, is overburdened now. It did not have oxygen facility earlier, but it does now as most patients complain of difficulty in breathing | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

Some organisations started ‘oxygen langars’ at several places in Delhi-NCR for patients complaining of shortness of breath due to Covid infection. These ‘langars’ also felt overburdened, witnessing large crowds throughout the day | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

People can be seen standing in queues from morning to get their empty oxygen cylinders refilled for their patients suffering from Covid. This shop in Bhogal witnesses huge rush all day | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

Delhi’s LNJP Hospital has been the busiest since the beginning of the pandemic. During the second wave, things were worse, with patients in ambulances lining up outsde, waiting to get a bed. This patient, sitting with oxygen support, was waiting in his car to get a bed inside | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

Around Delhi and NCR, Sikh organisations have organised ‘oxygen langars’ at several places. In this facility, a doctor checks the oxygen level of a patient | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

At Indirapuram gurdwara, a man uses an oxygen concentrator to breathe | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

A Covid patient being taken out of an ambulance after oxygen in the cylinder got over, outside LNJP Hospital. She was shifted to another ambulance as her wait for a bed continued | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

Outside LNJP Hospital, relatives wait, hoping for some help. This man carried a oxygen cylinder for his pregnant wife who was sitting in a car waiting for a bed | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint