At least seven crematoriums and graveyards in India's western city of Surat saw a more than three-fold rise in the number of cremations and burials last month compared with a year ago, suggesting many more Covid-19 fatalities than an official tally.

The data, gathered from site visits and logs reviewed by Reuters, shows the facilities buried or cremated more than 6,520 bodies in April 2021, up from about 1,980 in April 2020, in the early part of the first wave of coronavirus infections.

Official data for the district of Surat, home to about 6 million people, indicates however that a total of only 585 Covid-19 deaths were recorded for both the city and district in April this year.