Kareena Eugene
On Monday, 12th April 2021, the Jharkhand High Court slammed the authorities as bodies of COVID victims were seen piled up at Muktidham in Ranchi’s Harmu area.
The bodies of victims were cremated in an electrical crematorium but the management seems to be getting out of hand.
The Court reprimanded the officials for the delay in the last rites saying that, “It is the responsibility of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation and others to ensure that there is no issue in conducting last rites”.
The Court, while hearing a suo-moto PIL concerning the poor conditions of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), the largest hospital in the State.
Ranchi Divisional Commissioner (DC) Chhavi Ranjan said that the electric crematorium will be fixed at the earliest. Till then, the bodies are being cremated at the banks of the Ghaghara River, Namkum, Ranchi.
RIMS has been functioning without a CT scan machine. Patients are forced to get themselves scanned form a private hospital and resort to private radiology centers.
The Bench ordered the hospital authorities to purchase and install a CT scan machine within two days.
On Friday, the Court sought for a detailed report on the number of samples collected and delay in testing. Around 7000 swabs were collected for COVID in Ranchi every day, according to Government records.