Amid safety guidelines in place for last rites of bodies which have no confirmation on Covid-19 infection, a cemetery in Bhopal�s Jahangirabad area has dug up a dozen graves in advance as a precautionary measure.

The locality in old city is a coronavirus red zone with nine deaths and well over 200 cases as of now.

The Jhadawalllah Kabristan in Jahangirabad has 12 graves ready in case multiple bodies arrive in succession.

Md Rehan, head of Kabristan Committee in Jahangirabad told News18 that they receive bodies from Hamidia Hospital, a state-run mega healthcare centre in Bhopal, and have no idea about their coronavirus infection status and are also required to complete the last rites swiftly.

"At times we get more than one body and 25-30 people accompanying the funeral procession overcrowd the facility which is dangerous as per safety guidelines," he added.

He said that the committee approached the municipal corporation for JCB machines after it received six bodies in a single day � four from Hamidia Hospital and two from Chirayu Hospital, which is a Covid-19 hospital.

"These machines dig basic pits and our boys complete the task of digging up the grave," Rehan said, adding that a single grave takes about four hours of digging and it�s hard to find labourers right now.

Jahangirabad has reported over 200 cases of Covid-19 and nine deaths till now. A densely populated area, it was sealed from eight sides a month ago and till now around 10,000 samples have been taken for testing.

As a precautionary measure, the administration is shifting locals from crowded areas to safer zones to protect them from infection. Initially around 2,500 locals are being shifted in government buses. The three-kilometre stretch has a population of around 90,000.