With an aim to reduce pollution caused by the cremation of dead bodies in the open, an eco-friendly unit in the Bistupur crematorium started its trial run. The facility is expected to formally make its debut early next month.

Two bodies were cremated at the unit, set up at a cost of Rs 20 lakh, on Sunday. The eco-friendly crematorium was in contention to start for the past three years but could not get formally operational owing to different hurdles, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Parvati Ghat managing committee general secretary Dipendra Bhatt said they were presently charging Rs 3,000 (per body) for the cremation. "We are taking charges for the wood. We have started the trial run at the facility to ascertain glitches but the trial run went off smoothly. Two bodies were cremated at the facility on Sunday," he added.

According to Bhatt, the eco-friendly crematorium is expected to formally open early next month. "Actually, soil has been dumped along the pathway to the cremation unit. We will formally make the facility operational once the soil is removed," the ghat committee general secretary added.

He said the soil was excavated for setting up a gas-operated burning unit inside the ghat. "It would be used for refilling once the columns were installed. Work for installing the columns is underway. An Ahmedabad-based agency is executing the gas-operated burning unit," Bhatt explained.

Two furnaces are used at Parvati Ghat, located near Kharkai bridge. Apart from the furnaces, bodies are cremated by adopting traditional methods of using wooden logs on two separate platforms under a tin shed.

On average, 8 to 10 bodies come for cremation at the ghat.

On the functioning of the eco-friendly burning unit, Bhatt said logs of wood inside the burning chamber gets compressed and a blower assists in the quick burning of the pyre. The remains pass through the channel inside the chamber and only smoke will come out of the chimney.

“The remains settle down after passing through the water channel. There will be no scope for particles to get released into the air. The new unit will consume less quantity of wood and take less time to fully burn the bodies,” he added.

Ghat committee members and well-wishers have contributed funds for the Rs 20 lakh unit.

Plans are also afoot to add greenery to the crematorium.