The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Erode News : Work on crematorium to begin soon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 26, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Erode

Work on crematorium to begin soon

By Our Staff Reporter

ERODE, NOV. 25. The Rotary Club of Erode Central will start the construction work on the electric crematorium in Erode in January 2005 on 1.50 acres on the banks of the Cauvery.

Talking to The Hindu , the Managing Director of Lotus Hospitals, Erode, and the former president of the Rotary Club of Erode Central, Dr. E.K. Sahadevan, said that the crematorium would be constructed at a cost of Rs. 1 crore.

Of this, Rs. 30 lakhs would be given by the Rotary International. An amount of Rs. 60 lakhs would be collected from the public and also from the MLA, MP Constituency Development Funds.

The Rotary Club of Erode Central had decided to conduct a fund-raising programme in Erode soon to collect Rs. 10 lakhs.

Ready by December

Some persons had already donated Rs. 12 lakhs, which was deposited in the bank by the club. He said the crematorium would be built at the present municipal burning ghat and on the adjoining land donated by two persons. The crematorium would be ready by December 2005.

The Rotary Club of Erode Central would maintain it for 10 years, regarding which agreements had been reached with the Erode Municipality.

Dr. Sahadevan said many people had complained about the present municipal burning ghat. Discussions were held with the Erode MLA, K.S. Thennarasu, and the Municipal Chairman, M. Subramanian, and a plan to build the crematorium was in place, Mr. Sahadevan said.

He said there would be provision for cremating two bodies at a time - one on an electric burner and another on gas burner.

Concession for poor

It was decided to collect Rs. 500 per body for cremation. Of this, 50 per cent would be given to the Erode Municipality and the remaining amount would go towards maintenance. Another Rs. 60 would be charged for providing the urn containing ashes.

For the poor, the charges would be reduced provided they produced the Below Poverty Line certificate, he said.

A death certificate should be produced by the legal heirs when the body is brought for cremation.

The Rotary Club of Erode Central would also arrange an ambulance for shifting the body from the house to the crematorium, for which Rs. 500 would be charged. The cremation would function from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

To start the construction work, the existing burning ghat would be first cleaned.

From Monday, bodies would be cremated on the burial ground nearby. Even after the construction of the electric crematorium, burning by using dry cow dung or wood would continue in the municipal burial ground.

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