Under scanner over increasing air pollution, Vaikunth Smashan Bhoomi, the oldest crematorium in Pune, is all set to go for modifications suggested by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) after residents raised the issue in the Bombay High Court.

Around 2,000 Navi Peth residents have been complaining about the increasing air pollution owing to the Vaikunth crematorium of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), situated on the banks of Mutha river, and a few of them filed a petition about it in the Bombay High Court. It is on the directions of the court that the PMC appointed the NEERI to study air pollution due to the crematorium. 

Accordingly, the NEERI has expressed the “need of modifications in use of fuel for pyres that till now used wood, cow dung cakes or briquettes. It has also recommended modification in (the) design of hoods and additional provision of blowers, continuous monitoring by CCTV, detailed and scientific monitoring of exhaust gasses and provisions necessary to determine (the) performance of installed air purification control system.”

“There might be a need for modification of electrically or gas-fired furnaces in its design, operation and maintenance of the furnace along with the air pollution control system from an environmental point of view,” the NEERI stated in a report after conducting the preliminary study.

The NEERI has also said that there is the need for the development of a buffer zone or green belt around the crematorium, awareness about the procedures to be adopted for cremation, especially the corpses from hospitals, development of standard operating procedures and adequate monitoring systems with better sensor efficacies.

The Vaikunth Smashan Bhoomi, situated in the heart of the city, was developed in an eight-acre land in 1958. It has four wood-based pyre sheds with six pyres each. Each wood pyre shed has two air purification control systems, one for each three pyres, a separate blower and a common chimney of 30 metres. Apart from this, there are three electric furnaces and one gas furnace with each having an individual air pollution control system, blower and a common chimney of 30 metres.

Vikrant Latkar, resident of Navi Peth who along with others have taken up the issue in the high court, said that a third-party audit of the air pollution control system installed at Vaikunth crematoria was undertaken by NEERI to study on assessment of air pollution control system and recommend medications for Vaikunth Smashan Bhoomi.

“We have been raising the serious issue of air pollution due to Vaikunth crematorium and seeking some changes but nothing has been done to resolve it. The problem is getting aggravated,” said Latkar.

The information through the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that over half of the cremations in the city are taking place only in the Vaikunth crematorium. Civic activist Vivek Velankar said,

“I got details of cremation taking place in the city at various crematoriums. The data furnished by PMC proved that 57 per cent of the total 89,593 cremations between 2015 to 2020 were done at the Vaikunth crematorium. The air pollution in the area was on the rise. Unfortunately, there are no efforts by the PMC to resolve the issue.”

Although three are 28 crematoriums across the city, the Vaikunth crematorium is a preferred facility due to its central location, spacious area and proximity to main city hospitals. “The PMC has started an around-the-clock cremation pass facility at Vaikunth crematorium and it has increased the number of cremations taking place in the premises. Moreover, the air pollution is mostly due to the use of wood and we have been demanding that its use should be stopped at Vaikunth crematorium,” he said, adding that the furnaces at the crematorium are old and need to be modified for better performance.

Srinivas Kandul, the additional city engineer of the PMC, said that the civic body has been upgrading the Vaikunth crematorium using technology to reduce air pollution. “We are open for further modifications in the available system used for cremation at Vaikunth. The PMC will make all possible changes as per the suggestions of the NEERI,” he said.

The PMC is also planning to urge citizens to use other crematoriums spread across the city, Kandul said.

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Originally Appeared Here