12 die in Siliguri- Queue at Siliguri crematorium grows -356 new cases in Darjeeling district

SNS,  SILIGURI, 29 APRIL 2021: The queue outside the only crematorium cremating people dying after contracting Covid-19 in Siliguri is growing.

Officials at the Siliguri, Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA), which maintains the crematorium at Sahudangi, have said that the repair work in one of the two furnaces there was underway. The other fumace there is used almost round-the-clock, given the rush and the growing death rate of Covid patients, sources have said.

Sources at the SJDA said that the crematorium is catering to people from other areas and not only from Siliguri.

According to officials, when a body from the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) area was sent to the crematorium, its turn came only after the cremation of 17 bodies yesterday.

"The crematorium here is facing the pressure in the past few days. It is working almost overtime to cope with the number of deaths. We are hopeful that another furnace will be functionaI within a few days," said an SJDA official.

Nodal officers for disposal of bodies

The state government, meanwhile, appointed five senior officials as nodal officers for "smooth and speedy disposal of bodies of people dying after Covid contraction in Siliguri.

The government has engaged the officers at the block level to supervise the disposal such bodies.

SMC commissioner Sonam Wangdi Bhutia will supervise the corporation area, while the block disaster management officers will oversee Matigara, Naxalbari, Kharibari and Naxalbari blocks, it is learnt.

12 die in Siliguri

Meanwhile, 12 persons, who had tested positive for Covid-19, died in Siliguri in the past 24 hours, among whom, nine persons were undergoing treatment at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH), sources said.

A 52-year-old woman from Malbazaar in Jalpaiguri, a 60-year-old resident of Deshbandhu Para in Siliguri, a 68-year-old from Aurobinda Pally, a 53-year-old woman from Kurseong, a 48-year-old resident of Phansidewa died there today, while a 75-year-old resident of Bhaktinagar, a 65-year-old resident of Rathkhola and a 36-year-old woman from Bihar died last evening.

A 60-year-old resident of Shiv Mandir died in a private hospital, and sources said that a 65-year-old resident of Matigara died in home isolation. A 65-year-old resident of Darjeeling also died in a private nursing home. 

356 new cases in Darjeeling district

Darjeeling district witnessed a rise in Covid-19 cases as it recorded 356 cases in the past 24 hours, sources said. The Siliguri Municipal Corporation area, including those falling in Jalpaiguri district, registered 217 cases.

Forty-eight cases were detected in Matigara, 31 in Naxalbari, 14 in both Darjeeling and Kurseong municipalities, 12 in Bijanbari, 11 each in Mirik and at Sukhia Pokhari, seven in Sukna, four in Phansidewa, and two cases each in Mirik Municipality, Kharibari and Takdah, the sources said.

People queue up for the Covid-19 vaccination at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri on Thursday.