With India losing 50 million trees annually to meet the fuel wood demand of the cremation sector, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has launched an initiative to come up with a more scientific way to undertake wood-based cremation.
Under the National River Conservation Plan, the MoEF supports a wood-based cremation system that saves 60 per cent of the wood being used at present.
The energy-efficient and environment-friendly Mokshda Green Cremation Systems (MGCS) have been designed by the Mokshda Paryavaran Evam Van Suraksha Samiti, an NGO working under the aegis of MoEF. The MGCS require less time — two hours — for the body to become ash and also claim to require much less land.
The NGO has calculated that while the former wood burning techniques resulted in the emission of 7.5 million tons of greenhouse gas CO2 annually, the present method was capable of saving up to 60 per cent of the wood used. This works out to a saving of 13,700 tonnes of wood annually and also a reduction of 26,5000 tonnes of CO2. The MoEF hoped cheaper costs would ensure that those living below the poverty line, who were disposing dead bodies and incompletely cremated bodies into the rivers, would also opt for this option.
The MoEF empowered committee has approved the setting up of 60 medium-sized crematoria in 10 cities, including Dehra Dun, Delhi, Mumbai, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Khambat, Bokaro and Jodhpur.