The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : NGO hopes crematoria will adopt green technique

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 30, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

NGO hopes crematoria will adopt green technique

Saptarshi Bhattacharya

Concept uses simple techniques to save up to 60 per cent of wood The project is being aided by the United Nations Development Programme under its Global Environment Facility Programme

CHENNAI: A New Delhi-based voluntary organisation has suggested that Chennai could adopt the concept of `green cremation' of the dead. The concept uses simple techniques to achieve maximum efficiency of combustible materials and saves up to 60 per cent of wood.

Mokshda made a presentation on the environment-friendly concept in the presence of Chennai Corporation Commissioner M.P. Vijayakumar and other civic officials. Three representatives of the organisation — Vinod Kumar Aggarwal, founder president; Anshal Garg, executive officer; and Aarti Sharma, consultant — surveyed some cremation grounds in the city to develop the new system of cremation.

The project is being aided by the United Nations Development Programme under its Global Environment Facility Programme with the Union Government meeting 60 per cent of the expenses and local bodies bearing 10 per cent of the expenditure. The group had established 41systems all over the country in a little over a decade bringing in 71 modifications to the original concept, said Mr. Agarwal.

"There have been many changes to the traditions and customs followed by us but this particular one is unchanged for ages. We are cautious. We intend to talk to people and raise their level of awareness to gain acceptance for the concept."

The new system helped complete combustion of wood by ensuring sufficient supply of air into the pyre.

It required about 40 per cent of the wood presently used for cremation. The body and firewood are placed on an open iron framework and the pyre is provided under the stack. A sieve tray below the fire will collect the ashes and the remains of the body. The framework is kept open for free circulation of air. A hood attached to a chimney will be provided above the crematorium.

The chimney will also have a gas filter to absorb the particulate matter that comes out with the smoke.

The water used for washing the crematoria will be drained to a sedimentation tank and a filtration tank before being reused for washing. The sediments, mostly containing ash, can aid plantation, Mr. Agarwal said.

Work on the crematoria in the city is likely to begin in November after the Union Government and the UNDP sanction the sites and funds.

Construction work would be over in about a year and the organisation would maintain the crematoria for a year after they were commissioned, Mr. Agarwal said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu