Crematorium to shift to gas at Goregaon East

MUMBAI: In a move to make the last rites of the dead eco-friendly, the Hindu

crematorium

at

Goregaon

East, Shivdham, will soon replace woodfire with gas. The

gas-fired

furnace will help the crematorium end dependence on firewood, between 45 to 50 tons, a month.


Around 300-400 kg of wood is required to cremate a body. “Wood as fuel to burn bodies adds to

deforestation

and smoke-emitting pyres causes pollution. The switching over to gas from wood as fuel at the crematorium will help make the environment cleaner,” said Aneel Murarka, a trustee of C B Murarka Charitable Trust which manages the crematorium. This crematorium receives around seven to eight bodies daily and so far it has been using firewood to cremate the bodies. The gas-fired furnace at the crematorium will be inaugurated after the elections, said Murarka.

Ever since the Trust took over the management of the Hindu crematorium named Shivdham at Goregaon East in June 2011, the trust has substantially improved facilities at this final resting place. Apart from the soon-to-be-inaugurated gas-fired furnace, the crematorium provides facilities like lockers to store urn containing ashes of the departed, availability of a pujari (priest) 24X7 to perform the puja and rituals. The poor and the deprived are not charged to cremate their loved ones.