The management committee at the Parvati ghat in Jugsalai is set to install an additional furnace operated by gas to cremate bodies soon.

A representative from an Ahmedabad-based agency, which specializes in manufacturing gas-operated furnaces, visited Parvati ghat for site inspection on Tuesday.

There are two electric furnaces at the crematorium but one is presently non-operational due to some technical glitches.

Ghat managing committee general secretary Dipendra Bhatt confirmed the same.

“Electric furnaces at our disposal often break down due to some technical reason or the other. One of the furnaces has already broken down which is putting extra load on one which is functioning. Gas-operated furnaces break down very occasionally,” he said.

Moreover, the electric furnaces have to be started earlier to generate the required heat for burning bodies. This consumes electricity.

According to him, the Ahmedabad agency will submit its quotation and they would subsequently place an order for the furnace. “A gas-operated furnace is the need of the hour. We will no longer be required to depend on electric furnaces once the new unit is in place,” Bhatt added.

Funds for the gas furnace will be arranged from well-wishers.

Apart from the two electric furnaces, bodies are cremated by adopting traditional methods by using wooden logs on two separate platforms under a tin shed.

The ghat management committee has heaved a sigh of relief as the number of bodies coming for cremation daily has come down. “Around 10-12 bodies are coming now for last rites. It’s a big relief for us as earlier nearly 50 bodies used to be cremated at the ghat,” Bhatt said.

Wood is not a problem now as social organisations have chipped in with the required support.