On Saturday, senior BJP leaders in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have reportedly accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led-Delhi Government of a ‘massive discrepancy’ in the number of official Coronavirus deaths and the actual data of such deaths, recorded from crematoriums and burial grounds.
On the contrary, the Delhi Government had passed on the blame for the discrepancy in data on the hospitals. Arvind Kejriwal has accused the health officials of not providing timely information and has therefore issued new guidelines.
Municipality Records shows a grim situation
Earlier, there was a mismatch in the number of Coronavirus deaths between the Health Bulletin of the Delhi Government and the one reported by the hospitals in Delhi. According to Jai Prakash, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of NMCD, there have been 282 burials and cremations of bodies as per standard operating procedures in the area.
He added that 270 dead bodies of Coronavirus patients were brought to Nigam Bodh crematorium, 11 at Mangolpuri burial ground, and one at a Christian cemetery in Rohini. “The Kejriwal government is afraid that if real death figures become known to people, it will puncture its claim that Coronavirus situation is supposedly under control in Delhi,” he was quoted as saying.
Kamaljeet Sehrawat who is the leader of the House in SMCD and former South Delhi Mayor has put the number as high as 309 in his area. “Why can’t they just acknowledge these deaths? It will make people more aware and alert”, she said.
According to Sehrawat, 232 Coronavirus patients were brought to the Punjabi Bagh crematorium while 68 dead bodies belonged to suspected patients. 76 such bodies were brought to ITO Kabristan while one body was taken to Madanpur Khadar burial. She further said that SDMC officials were not consulted by the Delhi Government before drafting its policies. Chairman Bhupender Gupta has called for an inquiry into the matter
3x Coronavirus Death Toll in Delhi
According to the ‘official data’ put out by the Delhi Government, there has been a total of 194 Coronavirus deaths in the State as of May 21. On Saturday, the government in its health bulletin had increased the number to 231. On combining the death toll in just NMCD and SMCD, the number reaches a staggering 591. The official data is roughly 3 times less than the record that is available with the Municipal Corporations.
Ground Report contradicts claims of Arvind Kejriwal
Earlier, in a video uploaded by the news channel, health officials could be seen burying the body of a deceased in accordance with Coronavirus protocols. A JCB machine was even employed to dig the pit for the burial. According to the ground reporter Milan Sharma, cemetery records stated that the said burial marked the 96th case of burial of a Coronavirus patient at the ITO Kabristan. As such, there was a mismatch between the Delhi Government data and the actual number of deaths caused in the State due to the Chinese virus
