The Bombay Hindu Burning & Burial Grounds Committee has decided to embrace an eco-friendly cremation furnace. The decision came as Jagannath Sunkersett Smashan Bhoomi, a Walkeshwar crematorium, completed 100 years.
“Earlier, we were using 200kg wood per cremation, with the cremation time going up to 3 hours, but now, the new furnace will use only 60kg and lessen the time to 1.5 hours. We are saving fuel, money as well as wood,” said Pradyumna Badheka, president of the Bombay Hindu Burning and Burial Grounds.
Badheka, along with the committee secretary Surendra Sunkersett, is planning to upgrade all the crematoriums in city, in the course of a year, to the new eco-friendly furnace.
The new furnace promises greater efficiency as well as a reduction in emission of fuel gases, which in turn will reduce the damage on the inside of the building. The released fuel gases will be guided out through a chimney, making the inside of the building free from heat and pollution.
“Generally, people don’t know what to do when someone in their family passes away. So, we have decided to introduce a Nishulk Antim Seva (free last rites) by which we will take care of all the duties required at the event of someone’s death, from sending a hearse to delivering the death certificate to their door, everything will be done free of cost,” added Badheka. The committee plans to launch this service in a year.
Currently, they are gathering funds for the two projects and have gotten the support of union minister for environment and forests Prakash Javadekar. “I spoke to Javadekar sometime ago, and he has promised me that he will direct every MLA in the city to allocate funds for the project; I’m grateful for his support,” said Badheka.
