City’s only electric crematorium lying defunct for a week
LUCKNOW : The electric crematorium at Baikunth Dham, the only such facility in Lucknow, is lying defunct for the past seven days due to a technical snag. The NGT has issued a notice to the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) in this regard.
With the machine not functioning, people are forced to go for the traditional method of cremation by burning wood, especially at a time when the city is grappling with air pollution.
LMC authorities said a team of engineers from Delhi is on the job to repair the facility.
“The electric crematorium will be repaired by Monday. The second electric crematorium in the city will also be ready by next Saturday,” said Ram Nagina Tripathi, chief engineer, rubbish removal department, LMC.
“Electric cremations are free and less time consuming. Besides the poor, people who are environment conscious also prefer to go for electric cremations. On an average, 3 to 4 green cremations take place daily,” said Surya Vikram Singh, in-charge of the crematorium.
He added that the demand for traditional cremations had reduced over the past few years.
“Another reason why electric cremations are preferred is that it takes just 35 minutes to complete the process. The traditional funeral pyre, on the other hand, takes up to four hours and costs over Rs 4,000 while electric cremation is free of cost,” he added.
Municipal commissioner Indramani Tripathi said: “One electric crematorium is not enough for a city like Lucknow and that’s why a second such facility has been set up.”
Former corporator of Mankameshwar ward Ranjeet Singh, who has in the past also fought for improving the facility, said: “Though Lucknow has an electric crematorium since 1985, the LMC never installed a generator to run it in case of power failures.”
While the crematorium has two platforms for two machines, only one had been installed here for the past 34 years. But LMC bought the second machine for the last rites of the poor.