Jamshedpur: Eco-friendly burning unit to be formally inaugurated at Parvati ghat on July 23

The unit is aimed at reducing pollution caused by cremation in the open

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, July 21: The eco-friendly crematorium is all set to be formally inaugurated at Parvati Ghat in Bistupur on Saturday (July 23).

The facility, the first of its kind in Jharkhand, is aimed at reducing pollution caused by the cremation of dead bodies in the open. The trial run of the eco-friendly crematorium was started in January but it awaited a formal inauguration.

Parvati Ghat managing committee general secretary Dipendra Bhatt said bodied were being cremated at the facility as part of a trial run but a formal opening was awaited. “The pollution-free crematorium will be formally inaugurated on July 23. Members of the ghat management committee will be present on the ocassion,” he confirmed.

Set up at a cost of over 20 lakh, the eco-friendly crematorium was in contention to start for the past three years but could not get formally operational owing to different hurdles, including the Covid-19 pandemic. Ghat committee members and well-wishers have contributed funds for the facility.

The ghat management committee charges Rs 3,000 (per body) for the cremation. “We are taking charges for the wood. The trial run started at the facility to ascertain glitches but the it went off smoothly,” Bhatt added.

According to Bhatt, formal inauguration of the the eco-friendly crematorium was expected in February. “Actually, soil was dumped along the pathway to the cremation unit. It took some time to remove the soil,”he added.

On the functioning of the eco-friendly burning unit, Bhatt said logs of wood inside the burning chamber gets compressed and a blower assists in the quick burning of the pyre. The remains pass through the channel inside the chamber and only smoke will come out of the chimney.

“The remains settle down after passing through the water channel. There will be no scope for particles to get released into the air. The new unit will consume less quantity of wood and take less time to fully burn the bodies,” he explained.

Bhat said the gas-operated burning unit will also be commissioned soon. Work is underway and it is expected to be commissioned soon without any further delay whatsoever. An Ahmedabad-based agency is executing the project.

Two furnaces are used at Parvati Ghat, located near Kharkai bridge. Apart from the furnaces, bodies are cremated by adopting traditional methods of using wooden logs on two separate platforms under a tin shed.

On average, 8 to 10 bodies come for cremation at the ghat on daily basis..