The Nagpur civic body has introduced eco-friendly way of cremating bodies at four more crematoriums in the city, in which briquettes made of farm waste and agricultural residues are being used in place of wooden logs.
The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) in association with a city-based NGO- Eco Friendly Living Foundation- run by Vijay Limaye, had launched this project on a pilot basis three years back at one of the crematoriums in the city.
As the citizens have supported this initiative, it has now been implemented in four other crematoriums.
The initiative named 'Mokshakashtha' has won praise from various quarters, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had lauded Limaye for his innovativion and efforts to protect the environment.
Talking to PTI, Limaye said, "Briquettes made of agro-waste are being used for cremation at five crematoriums in the city. An agency collects agro-waste from farms and makes 'Mokshakashtha' briquettes, each approximately weighing one kg, which are then transported to the crematoriums."
According to him, around 350 kgs of wood is required to cremate a single body, whereas it takes only 250 kgs of eco-friendly blocks to do that.
"With one tonne of such briquettes, four bodies can be cremated. It takes around four hours for the entire cremation process to end in case of wooden logs, whereas it takes only half the time for the eco-friendly briquettes to do that," he said.
Currently, around 250 bodies are being cremated in a month at the city's crematoriums using eco-friendly material, he said, adding that around 20 tonnes of briquettes are stored in each crematorium.
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"The initiative has started saving wood and trees, thereby protecting the environment. This concept can be beneficial to farmers across India and is a good business opportunity for people residing in villages," he said.
"Since the 'Mokshakashtha' blocks are made using farm waste, farmers can start selling the agricultural residues instead of burning them. It will also help save the biodiversity as burning of farm waste kills insects," he said.
According to Limaye, his concept can be useful across India as well as countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka, which follow the Hindu cremation rituals.
NMC health officer Sunil Kamble said, "In 2016, we had launched this initiative as a pilot project at one crematorium in Nagpur. Now, we have introduced this in four other such facilities in the city.
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