In a move to address the woes of the relatives of COVID-19 victims who are not able to attend the cremation of their loved ones due to safety guidelines in place, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is planning to begin live streaming from its electronic crematorium. The crematorium, named Santhi Kavadam, is located at Thycaud in the city. With the live streaming, officials say that the relatives of COVID-19 victims will be able to watch the last rites from anywhere in the world.
"There have been strict regulations that prevent the kin of COVID-19 victims in taking part in the cremation and this has created a lot of emotional issues. Live streaming will start at Santhi Kavadam in the interest of the public. The live can be watched from anywhere in the world. The link would be available on the website (smarttvm.
The live streaming will begin in two weeks. It will be made available for the families of all those who are cremated at Santhikavadam. So far, 381 people have been cremated at Santhi Kavadam. This includes those who died of COVID-19 as well as those who were buried following COVID-19 protocol, as per the Health Department’s orders. This includes nine persons outside Kerala as well as 181 people from outside the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation’s jurisdiction.
The corporation will also begin an online booking facility for cremations. The booking can be done via the Smart Trivandrum mobile App and in the corporation's web portal. At present, the booking is done over the phone.
There are currently two electric crematoriums and four firewood crematoriums at Santhi Kavadam. Two gas crematoriums will also be set up on an emergency basis.
Plans have also been chalked out to set up an aerobic bin and a Material Recovery Facility, to replace the existing portable aerobic bin at the crematorium for waste treatment.