Goemkaprponn desk
MARGAO: The number of deaths due to Covid-19 infections may not be so staggering in Goa compared to other states in India but those responsible for handling these bodies while performing final rites face equally hazardous working conditions and increased risk of infections at the burial and cremation sites.
Till Friday as per the government released media bulletin a total number of 2302 persons died in the state after getting infected with the deadly virus commonly known as Corona virus.
Many feel that the number may be higher but this number is over and above the normal deaths that happen in Goa due to sickness or accidents or old age and has created an additional burden on mental, physical and psychological wellbeing of the workers who had been doing this work.
When Goa struggled to find hospital beds, oxygen cylinders or life-saving drugs for those who are alive where highlighted on the front pages of the newspapers while the condition in which these workers work and the risk they face neither got any attention nor appreciation most of these workers feel.
When this correspondent spoke to a few of these workers and appreciated the work they are doing, all of them got ecstatic and said that this is the first time someone has appreciated their work which otherwise goes unnoticed in this materialistic world they said.
Most of the workers were aware of the dangers they have to deal with while performing the final rites of the bodies of Covid-19 victims and said that this is the only work they have been doing and they haven’t gained any considerable skills to make a living while doing this work.
Speaking to Goenkarponn, Vincent who hails from Tamil Nadu and working as a grave digger in one of the cemeteries in Margao informed that till now he has dug 120 graves for the victims of Covid-19, while he uses a face mask.
“It’s not possible to work fast if I wear hand gloves” he informed.
“I am instructed to follow the procedures while digging graves but practically it’s not possible to follow” he said.
A crematorium worker who works at a crematorium in Salcete informed that they are exposed to not only infections but they suffer psychologically also.
“We try our best to follow all government guidelines, but in some instances there’s not much that we can do when more than 20 persons turn up at the crematorium” says one worker, who didn’t want to be named.
When this correspondent asked a general physician who has a clinic in Margao, about the risk these workers get themselves exposed to, he told Goenkarponn that these workers are at risk during every step of the process.
He said there are many transmission risks, such as HIV, hepatitis, typhoid, cholera, and tuberculosis, along with COVID.
He added, disease can be transmitted to these workers if they improperly handle the bodies during cremation, or even pick up the bones with their bare hands.
“If the patient dies from natural causes, it’s difficult to determine if the patient was COVID positive, or not” he said.
“And if the body comes unwrapped, it increases the risk of infection for the workers he informed.
Even a body arrives wrapped in a polythene bag, it can’t be sure that the bag is devoid of the virus, the hearse van may also some time may be not sanitized properly as the work load is too high he added.
Another worker employed to stack wood on the pyre informed that the pay also is
not sufficient to take care of their and their families healthcare needs.
Satish Paiginkar a social worker from South Goa informed that for the amount of work and the risk they take they should be paid well.
“Its time the government considers them as frontline warriors and offers them better living conditions and other facilities” Paiginkar said.
