CHENNAI: Grieving for the departed at the various crematoriums in the city is expensive, noisy and hardly solemn. All services including those for morgue van at all the Greater Chennai Corporation-run facilities are free for all categories of mourners, but the reality is that nothing can be done without paying amounts ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000.
There is an unwritten cost to every service, and mourners and their kin are fleeced by attendants and in-charge officials or brokers. The bribe structure has become so institutionalized that at the run-down crematorium in Anna Nagar, men stay on the campus 24x7 and collect money directly as well as through brokers.
There is no proper compound at many of the crematoriums which are overrun by vegetation. Even corporation employees contacted directly seek a minimum of Rs3,000 for ‘booking.’
Third-party private players have made a business out of this, offering ‘packages’ ranging from Rs18,000 to Rs25,000 including bribes paid to corporation crematorium caretaker and maintenance staff. The civic body set up CCTV cameras at almost all the facilities and even removed three staff seeking bribes at the Nesapakkam crematorium but that has not changed anything.
At the Velangadu electric crematorium in Anna Nagar, a man sitting and drinking alcohol on the premises approached the TOI reporter and photographer and promised to take care of all the services for Rs 18,000-Rs 20,000. When the reporter insisted on meeting the caretaker, the broker followed the TOI team into the room. “Even if you book directly, there will be about Rs 5,000 that you will have to pay for services,” he said.
At Besant Nagar, one caretaker seeks Rs 1,500 from every family making a booking and another Rs 1,500 for the ashes. When informed that we were from a newspaper, he begged forgiveness and promised not to seek a bribe again.
Since January, the civic body has received 54 complaints regarding burial ground violations. When contacted, corporation deputy commissioner (health) Manish Narnaware said he was aware of the situation. When pointed out that even corporation-appointed caretakers, all permanent staff, seek a minimum of Rs 3,000, he said, “We will form special teams to take action against the culprits. Earlier, after getting intelligence from a deputy superintendent of police, we acted against a few staff.”
