As COVID-19 numbers spiral, National capital Delhi is struggling to meet not only the healthcare challenges but also to provide timely and respectable last rites to the victims of the deadly disease that has claimed 173, 000 lives so far in India. Delhi recorded 104 deaths due to the virus on Wednesday, the highest since November 20.

Graveyards are fast running out of space and the waiting time at crematoriums runs into 6-7 hours as bodies pile up. Central Delhi’s Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam, one of the largest graveyards in Delhi, is quickly filling up, says the caretaker. “We’ve space for burial of just 150-200 more such bodies,” caretaker Mohammad Samim told news agency ANI.

Also read: We need to work together to fight COVID-19: PM Modi

“From one or two bodies a day, it is now 17 bodies daily… If situation continues like this, then in the next 10 days, we will run out of space,” Samim told ndtv.com

Delhi’s biggest crematorium, Nigambodh Ghat, where the number of cremations a day have gone up from 15 to 30, is also struggling to keep pace, the website adds. Families of many COVID-19 victims had to wait 6 hours to be able to cremate the bodies of their kin.

According to reports, 22 platforms and six CNG-run furnaces are being used exclusively for cremating persons dying due to the virus.

The second wave of more aggressive and highly-transmissible COVID-19 has hit India hard with daily count breaching the 2 lakh mark and more than 1000 deaths reported on Wednesday.

Delhi has been logging around 10,000 cases every day past one week. With Hospitals and COVID ICUs almost packed to capacity, the Delhi government has attached banquet halls, schools and sports complexes to hospitals to increase the number of beds.

Also Read | ‘How can we arrange freezers for so many bodies?’ Chhattisgarh medic

The list of hospitals that have gained extra space this way includes Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital.  Earlier, around a dozen hospitals were designated as exclusive COVID hospitals.