As coronavirus cases witness an unprecedented surge in Jharkhand, Ranchi has started looking for its own Hart Island – a historical plot of land where New York City has buried thousands of pandemic victims, right from the days of Spanish Flu to COVID-19.

While the body of Ranchi's first COVID-19 victim was denied place in Ratu Road Kabaristan over fear of transmission among locals on Sunday, the district administration on Monday was still in the process of finalising an area where victims of the lethal virus could be cremated sans public uproar.

"We have identified four places where such bodies can be buried. However, the final call is yet to be taken," said Ranchi Sub Divisional Officer Lokesh Mishra. "These areas are away from residential localities," he added without disclosing the spots.

The 60-year-old Hindpiri man, who died on Sunday while undergoing treatment at the Isolation Ward of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), was buried at a graveyard in Hindpiri after locals at Ratu Road raised a ruckus over the administration's decision of burying his body at Ratu Road Kabaristan.

Social distancing went for a toss on Sunday after hundreds of locals took to the streets in protest against the burial of the Coronavirus victim at Ratu Road Kabaristan. Police had to intervene to pacify the infuriated crowd, and eventually, there was calm in the neighbourhood only after the body was taken away.

"We did not expect such backlash from people. The decision of finding an isolated place for burying COVID-19 victims was taken in the wake of the public uproar," said a police official who was deployed near the Ratu Road Kabaristan on Sunday.

The Bombay High Court recently ruled that bodies of the victims of COVID-19 can be buried in the city, provided the burial ground is away from residential areas. The court quashed a Bombay Municipal Corporation's circular that said that the bodies of COVID-19 victims have to be buried outside the city.

Although Ranchi has witnessed only one COVID-19 death so far, finding a safe burial ground for future casualties seems to be a daunting task given the rapidly expanding nature of the city, sources said. "We have to look for baron lands, preferably in places that are unlikely to see constructions in the near future," said an official in the district administration, requesting anonymity.

Ranchi has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Jharkhand so far. By now, 11 residents of the State capital –all from Hindpiri– have tested positive.