After testing a pilot project for nearly five years at Sion Hindu Crematorium, the BMC will now roll it out at 9 more locations (10 in total), out of the other 52 Shamshan-bhoomi in the country's congested commercial capital.
Guided by BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani and Additional Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Joshi, a team from the Mechanical and Engineering Department comprising Chief Engineer Krishna Perekar, Executive Engineer Amal Mohite, Deputy CE Anil Damborekar and Assistant CE Suresh Patil, is now executing the project which will be completed in the next 6-8 months.
Explaining the highlights, Perekar said that the new technology of the eco-friendly pyre system will ensure huge savings on the wood used for cremation of the bodies, besides reducing the smoke and particles emanating from it, while also completing all the religious rituals that accompany it as desired by family members. /mourners.
"We will provide a cart in which the body will be placed and covered with wood, all the rituals will be performed as per the wishes of the family/relatives. Then the body will be taken to the furnace where it will be sent to ashes," Perekar told IANS .
This will eliminate the need to cremate the mortal remains of the deceased on an open funeral pyre, as is currently being done, and will prevent thick smoke from spreading directly into the open air, disturbing people living nearby.
Patil said that after the launch of the pilot project in Sion (2020), it got good response from the public and now the same system will be implemented in 9 more Shamshan-bhoomi spread across all 24 BMC wards in the current phase.
Compared to the need for about 350-400 kg of firewood per carcass, the new system will do the same job with just 100-125 kg of wood and, in turn, for the taxpayers, Perekar added.
Apart from Sion, the eco-friendly funeral system is reaching out to crematoriums like: Bhoiwada, Gowari in Wadala, Vaikunthdham on Reay Road, Tagore Nagar in Vikhroli, Deonar Colony in Govandi, Amardham Postal Colony in Chembur, Oshiwara in Jogeshwari, Shivdham in Goregaon and Babhai in western Borivali.
Each Smashan-bhoomi in Mumbai has multiple funeral pyres where, on an average, 10 to 12 funerals are held daily, in addition to the city's 10 electric crematoriums and 18 gas crematoriums.
Officials said the amount of wood that can be saved daily and annually would be enormous, in addition to controlling air pollution as smoke from the kiln will be blown out of 30-meter-high chimneys.
Officials noted that the combustion system is designed to provide maximum energy and minimize the release of smoke and vapors into the atmosphere through the tall chimneys, as most of the Shamshan-bhoomi are located in close proximity or within areas densely populated residential areas.
This particular arrangement also produces the least amount of smoke, along with water scrubbers and a separator system that removes particles and toxic gases, in the first initiative of its kind in Maharashtra, with potential to be implemented in other big cities.
Guided by BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani and Additional Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Joshi, a team from the Mechanical and Engineering Department comprising Chief Engineer Krishna Perekar, Executive Engineer Amal Mohite, Deputy CE Anil Damborekar and Assistant CE Suresh Patil, is now executing the project which will be completed in the next 6-8 months.
Explaining the highlights, Perekar said that the new technology of the eco-friendly pyre system will ensure huge savings on the wood used for cremation of the bodies, besides reducing the smoke and particles emanating from it, while also completing all the religious rituals that accompany it as desired by family members. /mourners.
"We will provide a cart in which the body will be placed and covered with wood, all the rituals will be performed as per the wishes of the family/relatives. Then the body will be taken to the furnace where it will be sent to ashes," Perekar told IANS .
This will eliminate the need to cremate the mortal remains of the deceased on an open funeral pyre, as is currently being done, and will prevent thick smoke from spreading directly into the open air, disturbing people living nearby.
Patil said that after the launch of the pilot project in Sion (2020), it got good response from the public and now the same system will be implemented in 9 more Shamshan-bhoomi spread across all 24 BMC wards in the current phase.
Compared to the need for about 350-400 kg of firewood per carcass, the new system will do the same job with just 100-125 kg of wood and, in turn, for the taxpayers, Perekar added.
Apart from Sion, the eco-friendly funeral system is reaching out to crematoriums like: Bhoiwada, Gowari in Wadala, Vaikunthdham on Reay Road, Tagore Nagar in Vikhroli, Deonar Colony in Govandi, Amardham Postal Colony in Chembur, Oshiwara in Jogeshwari, Shivdham in Goregaon and Babhai in western Borivali.
Each Smashan-bhoomi in Mumbai has multiple funeral pyres where, on an average, 10 to 12 funerals are held daily, in addition to the city's 10 electric crematoriums and 18 gas crematoriums.
Officials said the amount of wood that can be saved daily and annually would be enormous, in addition to controlling air pollution as smoke from the kiln will be blown out of 30-meter-high chimneys.
Officials noted that the combustion system is designed to provide maximum energy and minimize the release of smoke and vapors into the atmosphere through the tall chimneys, as most of the Shamshan-bhoomi are located in close proximity or within areas densely populated residential areas.
This particular arrangement also produces the least amount of smoke, along with water scrubbers and a separator system that removes particles and toxic gases, in the first initiative of its kind in Maharashtra, with potential to be implemented in other big cities.
