Chhattisgarh in dire need of fully electric crematoria
   Date :13-May-2021

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 The Marwari Shamsaan Ghaat near Budha Talab in Raipur.
(Pic by Rupesh Yadav)
 
 
By Partha Sarathi Behera :
 
Raipur,
 
With dead bodies of Covid patients pouring in at crematoria across State, capital city Raipur in particular, municipal bodies find it tough to perform last rites in the absence of fully electric crematoria. Crematoria in the limits of big cities like Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Korba etc. are overcrowded with dead bodies, waiting for last rites and municipal bodies here are helpless. Using woods to burn these bodies of covid patients not only cost dearer to municipal corporations, but also consume more time, making the Shamsaan Ghaats crowded. The electric crematorium with ignition facility at Devendra Nagar crematorium is lying dead as a dead body, adding to woes of Raipur Municipal Corporation(RMC). RMC Additional Commissioner Pulak Bhattacharya said that at present the municipal corporation bears the expenses of last rites. It costs Rs 8000-10,000 to buy wood for performing last rites of each body, he said and using woods causes harm to the environment and it’s an old way.
 
“We are trying to convince people to use cow dung, being prepared under Godhan Nyay Yojana, as alternate as it will save trees and environment,” said the Additional Commissioner. He said that 99 per cent people are not ready to use electric crematorium. Rather they prefer the traditional way of using wood. One of the customs called ‘Mukhagni’ (offering pyre) in the last rites prevent most people from using electric crematorium as this facility prevent them from performing customs of ‘Savdaah’, he said. Speaking about the electric crematorium, Bhattacharya said that the state has no fully electric crematorium. The electric crematorium at Marwari Crematorium and Devendra Nagar Crematorium also require woods to burn the bodies as they are not fully electric.
 
However, this partially electric facility requires less quantity of wood. “The facility at Devendra Nagar is lying idle and we would restore it soon,” said Bhattacharya. He said that only big cities in India have fully electric crematoriums and that too less in numbers. “We have floated tender for two fully electric crematoriums in Raipur and the State government has allocated budget for the same. The facilities are likely to be developed in near future in the existing crematoriums. The exact locations where these facilities will come up are not yet decided though,” he said. He hoped that the mindset of people will change and they will start preferring fully electric facility for the sake of environment. “We are also promoting use of cow dung at crematoriums to save environment,” he said.