Mumbai: The likely extinction of cowsheds from the city has foiled the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) plan to use cow dung cakes for cremation in cemeteries. Following this the civic body has now decided to use briquettes, which are made up of agro and tree waste wood, for final rites.
According to civic officials, cowsheds will no longer exist in Mumbai due to the court’s decision to move them out of the city. Hence dung cakes made up from cow dung in cowsheds, will not be available in adequate quantity. There is also not much information available on the large-scale production of dung cakes in rural areas.
“In Nagpur Municipal Corporation, when dung cakes were used on pilot basis, it was found that 700 dung cakes were required for one cremation. It has been found that dung cakes would not available in such a large quantity,” said a senior civic official.
Nagpur Municipal Corporation had also used briquettes called as ‘Mokshakashth’, which are made up of agro and tree waste wood. On these lines, the municipal corporation has also decided to use briquettes for final rites in crematoriums, he added.
Three cemeteries – Vaikunthdham Hindu Municipal Cemetery at Reay Road, Teachers Colony Municipal Cemetery at Khar East and Gujarathi Private Hindu Cemetery at Bhandup have been identified for the use of briquettes on pilot basis. Tenders for this will soon be issued, he said.
Former BJP corporator, Dyanmurti Sharma had demanded that dung cakes be used in cemeteries to avoid tree cutting. “The BMC provides firewood free of cost for final rites in cemeteries. However, this leads to chopping of trees, thereby causing environment damage. There are also complaints of providing wet firewood for cremation in cemeteries. Hence the civic body should use cow dung cakes for final rites,” he said.
There are 71 municipal crematoriums at 54 places in the city, of which some are joint crematoriums. Of them, 46 are Hindu crematoriums, 14 Muslim and 11 Christian crematoriums. In addition to this, 121 crematoriums are run by private trusts in the city. Of them, 20 are Hindu, 56 Muslim, 38 Christian and seven others.
