Patna: The Nitish Kumar govt in Bihar massively undereported COVID-19 deaths as second wave coronavirus cases engulfed the state with the number of COVID-positive patients cremated in just four crematoriums and buried in one burial ground in Patna exceeding the overall COVID toll of the state reported in the last one and half months.
Between 1 April and 13 May, 2,579 last rites of COVID-19 victims were held at the four crematoriums and one Muslim burial ground within the limits of the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC). However, the overall COVID-19 deaths during the same period stood at just 2,092, which is 487 less than the figures shared by the four crematoriums and one burial ground in Patna alone.
This peculiar data mismatch points to a major underreporting of COVID-19 deaths by the NDA government in Bihar headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
According to a COVID-19 bulletin issued on 14 May by the state health department, the state has reported 6,37,679 positive cases and 3,670 deaths. The state had reported 2,66,015 positive cases and 1,578 deaths in its 1 April bulletin. (The state govt reports 13 May figures on 14 May, hence the data reported on 14 May were in fact for 13 May.)
The Patna Municipal Corporation runs four crematoriums in Patna city – Bans Ghat, Gulbi Ghat, Khejekala Ghat and Nandgola – while the Muslim burial ground at Shahganj is managed by the state Waqf Board.
As per data obtained from the Patna Municipal Corporation, 939 COVID-19 bodies were cremated at the Bans Ghat crematorium from 1 April to 30 April, whereas 441 and 107 bodies were cremated at Gulbi Ghat and Khajekala Ghat, respectively. Around 35 COVID-19 dead bodies were buried at the Shahganj burial ground during the same period. The Nandgola crematorium came up in May when COVID-19 deaths spurred, hence there was no cremations were held here in the month of April.
From 1 to 13 May, the bodies cremated at Bans Ghat, Gulbi Ghat, Khajekala Ghat and Nandgola were 541, 394, 90 and four, respectively. Similarly, 28 COVID-19 positive victims were buried at the Shahganj burial ground during the same period.
All together, between 1 April and 13 May, the last rites of a total of 2,579 COVID-19-positive victims were held in the four crematoriums and one Muslim burial ground in Patna.
There are other crematoriums and burial grounds in Patna where the last rites of COVID-19 positive patients were held, but they do not fall under PMC. The data from those could not be obtained.
As per official data shared by Bihar’s state health department, from 1 April to 13 May, 2,092 people died of COVID-19 across the state. This shows that the last rites of an additional 487 COVID-19 victims were held in Patna city alone during that period.
Due to a sudden rise in COVID-19 deaths as the second wave of the pandemic, cremations have increased manifold at Patna’s cremation ghats.
To tackle the load, open areas near cremation ghats were allowed to be used to lit pyres. So, now apart from electric machines, bodies are burnt in open spaces as well.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an employee at the Bans ghat crematorium said, “There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of corpses in April and May. There are only two electric pyres, where only 48 corpses can be burnt in 24 hours. Many times there are queues of corpses, so the administration has allowed cremations in the open space as well.”
Around 2,118 dead bodies, including COVID-19 and non-COVID-19, were cremated at Bans ghat crematorium from 1 April to 13 May. This comes to an average of nearly 50 cremations a day.
Inflow of COVID-19 patients
The district of Patna is spread over 3,202 square kilometres and has a population of 58,38,465 (as per Census 2011). There are five COVID-19 dedicated hospitals in the district.
An official from the state health department, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that all COVID-19 bodies going to Patna’s crematoriums are not from Patna.
“Many coronavirus infected patients (from nearby districts) rush to Patna hospitals to get better treatment. When they succumb to the virus, the bodies are sent to Patna crematoriums. I assume that is why deaths in Patna district and dead bodies coming to the crematoriums are not matching,” he said.
It is a fact that patients from outside Patna are coming to the city’s hospitals for treatment. The crematorium staff also approves it. Another employee who records details of dead bodies at the Bans ghat said that the addresses of dead bodies include Arrah, Buxar, Nalanda and other neighbouring districts.
But, many officials this reporter spoke to disapproved the argument that the number of deaths in Patna were high due to inflow of COVID-19 patients.
According to the officials, as per the rule for recording COVID-19 deaths states, when a COVID-19 positive patient of one district is admitted to another district’s hospital and dies at that hospital, his death will be counted in the district where he/she was admitted and died. Later, the data is segregated for compensation.
A health official at Nawada district, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, “This rule is for all districts. The COVID-19 death is recorded in the district where the patient dies, and not in the district where the patient belongs to.”
Going by this rule, all the COVID-19 patients who were admitted at Patna hospitals and died should have been included in deaths reported by Patna. This means the data which the health department currently shares every day includes those who belonged to other districts and died in Patna hospitals as well.
But even then, there is a huge mismatch in official deaths reported and those recorded by crematoriums and burial grounds in Patna district.
According to health department data, 562 COVID-19 patients died in Patna from 1 April to 13 May (reported on 14 May), but according to crematoriums and burial ground data, nearly 459 percent more COVID-19-positive bodies (2,579) were cremated and buried in the PMC area.
Inadvertently or deliberately negligence is being done by the state government in data sharing, and death figures at some of the districts prove this.
Bodies in Ganges: The Buxar connection
According to the data released by the state health department, there has not been a single COVID-19 death in Buxar district from 7 May to 16 May as the total number of COVID-19 deaths has remained 26 since 7 May. But, according to media reports, more than 10 people have died of coronavirus in the district since 7 May. Local media reports said that as of 9 May, 82 people have died due to COVID-19 in Buxar district.
Dr Jitendra Nath, civil surgeon of Buxar district, appeared surprised when he was questioned about COVID-19 deaths in the district. “I don’t know why the health department is not updating data related to Buxar, and I can’t comment on the health department. We share the data on a daily basis,” he said.
He said that in the last 10 days around 15-20 persons have died due to COVID-19 in Buxar district. Five persons died of COVID-19 in 24 hours (as reported on Tuesday) in the district, Dr Nath informed.
Between 9 and 10 May, around 100 bodies were recovered from the Ganges river near the crematorium of Chausa village in Buxar district.
The district administration claimed that the bodies had flown from Uttar Pradesh, however, the locals told the reporter that people in the area are dumping bodies into the Ganges after performing mukhagni (a ritual where fire is placed on the face of a dead body before actual cremation) due to the unavailability of wood for pyres.
Bhagalpur too shows mismatch
Bhagalpur, a district in Bihar, is among the areas worst-affected by the second wave of COVID-19. The district has reported 24,118 positive cases and 245 deaths till 16 May.
According to the official figure issued by the state health department, around 162 patients have died of COVID-19 from 1 April to 16 May, whereas, the total COVID-19 deaths in the district from the beginning of pandemic last year till 16 May, 2021, stood at 245.
However, the number of COVID-19 bodies cremated at just one crematorium at Barari in Bhagalpur town between 1 April and 16 May is much higher than the official figure of total COVID-19 deaths in the district.
According to an official deputed at the Barari crematorium, a total 672 COVID-19 victims have been cremated in electric machines as well in open from 1 April to 16 May, which is almost four times higher than the official COVID-19 deaths for the corresponding period and 427 more than the total COVID-19 deaths reported in the district since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
The official mentioned above said, “People from Banka, Purnia and Godda (bordering districts of Jharkhand) whose near and dear ones die of COVID-19 also come here as it is a very famous crematorium ghat adjoining Ganga. So, you can deduct 20 percent of the data and the rest all belong to Bhagalpur.”
Gautam Mallik, an official who is deputed at the crematorium said, “We have burnt 1,125 quintals of wood in one and half months as the dead bodies load was high and we were getting 80-90 corpses (including non-COVID) daily.”
Dr Umesh Sharma, civil surgeon of Bhagalpur said that actual data might be a little more than official figures as many people don’t reach the hospitals and die at home, but it should not be that much higher.
When asked if crematoriums record only those who die at hospitals, he said that even then the “data cannot be that high”.
Undereporting deaths hamper fight against COVID-19
There can be mainly two reasons for manipulation of COVID-19 deaths data: the top district administration does not share the correct figures with the health department or the health department itself does not share the actual figures with the media.
“We share all the death statistics with the health department. There is an online system through which we send data to the health department,” a civil surgeon said.
A nodal officer of a private hospital in Patna too informed that the hospital sends data on COVID-19 deaths to the state health department.
Attempts were made to contact Partyay Amrit, secretary of the health department and Dr Manoj Kumar, executive director of state health society, but both didn’t respond to the reporter’s requests.
The number of COVID-19 caseis in India have witnessed a drop in the last few days, but deaths remain high. Throught the second wave, experts have expressed concern over a massive underreporting of COVID-19 deaths by various state governments.
“According to research reports in public health and (my) experience in many states, around two percent of total positive patients will die. If we go by that calculation, then out of the reported total 6,37,679 positive cases in Bihar, deaths should have been around 12,754,” Dr Antony KR, Independent Monitor, National Health Mission, Government of India said.
As per figures available on COVID-19india.org, as of 18 May, 4,039 people have died of COVID-19 in Bihar, whereas 6,64,115 people have tested positive for the virus in the state.
The underreporting of data may also cause hindrances in making policy decisions to fight the virus, according to experts.
A public health expert who wished not to be named said, “In public health planning and response, the first and most essential step is to estimate the magnitude of the problem by doing complete situational analysis. In case of a major pandemic, it is even more important as the scale of the spread of infection and diseases is quite extensive. To estimate the magnitude, we use indicators like, number of new cases, total active cases, and number of deaths, and so on.”
“In the absence of true estimates of cases and fatality (deaths), the planning for effective response will never be effective and complete. Therefore, all efforts should be made to estimate the actual size of the problem. By underestimating data on such vital indicators, we are hampering our ability to respond,” he said.