Even as PMC encourages eco-friendly options, most Pune citizens prefer wood pyres to cremate loved ones, shows data

There are 10 electricity-run facilities in Pune, 18 gas-operated ones, one which functions both on gas and electricity and 112 wood-based pyres

There are 10 electricity-run facilities in Pune, 18 gas-operated ones, one which functions both on gas and electricity and 112 wood-based pyres. These facilities are available at the 27 crematoriums across the city. (File)

While the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been making all efforts to encourage people to opt for environment-friendly options to cremate bodies of their loved ones, it seems that the residents of the city are more inclined towards wood pyres than the ones powered by electricity or gas.

According to data shared by the PMC in the Environment Status Report, out of the average 855 cremations in Pune every month, around 373 are carried out on wood pyres. Around 371 cremations are carried out in electricity-based facilities and 172 bodies are cremated in gas-powered ones. The report mentions, “Around 43.61 per cent of the bodies in the city are cremated in traditional wood-based systems, 36.22 per cent in electric crematoriums and 20.17 per cent in gas-run crematoriums.”

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Mangesh Dighe, environment officer, PMC, said, “In order to control air pollution emanating from crematoriums, the civic body has been installing eco-friendly air pollution control systems at the crematoriums.”

The officer added, “A traditional wooden pyre requires 400 kg of wood to cremate one body while the one attached to an air pollution control system requires 200 kg of wood. The smoke coming out of the pyre attached to an air pollution control system passes through a water scrubber mechanism which reduces the temperature of the smoke from 700 degree Celsius to 100 degree Celsius. The filtered smoke is then released through a 30-metre-high blower and the quality of smoke is as per the benchmark set by the pollution control board.”

He said the PMC is the only municipal corporation in the country that has installed the air pollution control systems in such large numbers across various crematoriums situated in different parts of the city. “The PMC will be providing more environment-friendly crematoriums at the newly-included areas,” Dighe said.

Former PMC Chief Engineer Srinivas Kandul, who was in-charge of setting up environment-friendly cremating facilities in the city, said, “The citizens are slowly moving to environment-friendly facilities for cremation but many still prefer wood pyres to cremate bodies of their loved ones. The use of wood has to be discouraged and I had proposed that the PMC should not allow availability of wood within the crematoriums. However, there has been no decision on it.”

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If the practice of using wood for cremation has to be stopped, citizens have to be discouraged by asking them to get wood from outside the crematoriums, Kandul said. He added that doing so will force them to opt for environment-friendly options.

Ajay Jadhav

Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, Pune. He writes on Infrastructure, Politics, Civic issues, Sustainable Development and related stuff. He is a trekker and a sports enthusiast. Ajay has written research articles on the Conservancy staff that created a nationwide impact in framing policy to improve the condition of workers handling waste. Ajay has been consistently writing on politics and infrastructure. He brought to light the lack of basic infrastructure of school and hospital in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even as two private helipads were developed by the leader who mostly commutes from Mumbai to Satara in helicopter. Ajay has been reporting on sustainable development initiatives that protects the environment while ensuring infrastructure development. ... Read More

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