Vasai: Shortage of firewood for pyres at a Virar East crematorium allegedly owing to pending payments to the contractor compounded a family’s grief on Monday. They were forced to hire a tempo, transport logs from a Virar West crematorium, pay for the services, and perform their grandfather’s cremation themselves. The ordeal delayed the final rites by around three hours.The crematorium is run by the Vasai-Virar civic body. On their arrival, the family of Shardanand Mishra was told by its staffers that they had run out of logs. Seeking urgent supply, one of the staffers wrote to the civic body on Aug 22 cautioning that there was stock for only eight cremations, but no action was allegedly taken. “We have been following up with senior civic officials, but there has been no response,” said Sanjay Surve, one of the staffers. He claimed that the contractor providing firewood had stopped supply over pending dues of Rs 60 lakh. He said the staff had so far managed to perform last rites despite the shortage. “On Sunday, we took care of seven cremations even though we had only four slots.” Ranjit, Mishra’s grandson, said the ordeal left the family in severe distress as the cremation was delayed by three hours. “No one should have to go through this. We had to go to the Virar West crematorium ourselves and get the logs at our own expense by hiring a tempo.” A senior civic official said the contractor has been instructed to resume the supply of firewood.
