Crematorium in Jwala Nagar to use cow dung begin now

Two more sites—Green Park and Dwarka sector 24— will introduce this change as MCD mandated 75% use of cow dung cakes at these sites, officials said. However, experts have cautioned that moving from wood to cow dung cakes will not reduce pollution.

New Delhi: In an attempt to reduce wood consumption in Delhi’s crematoria, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has started mandatory cow dung cake based cremation at Jwala Nagar crematorium by revising the term of contractors.

A senior MCD official said that the pilot project will be undertaken at these three sites (Representative photo)

Two more sites—Green Park and Dwarka sector 24— will introduce this change as MCD mandated 75% use of cow dung cakes at these sites, officials said. However, experts have cautioned that moving from wood to cow dung cakes will not reduce pollution.

A senior MCD official said that the pilot project will be undertaken at these three sites. “In the coming days, work will start in Dwarka sector 24 and Green Park as well. This will reduce the use, dependence and save wood equivalent to about two trees daily,” official added.

MCD oversees operations at 59 traditional cremation grounds (wood-based), and nine Muslim and four Christian burial sites. The number of sites offering alternative modes of final rites is ten, nine of which have 22 CNG-based furnaces and one electric furnace facility, MCD data showed.

Official said that the Jwala Nagar crematorium is operated by an NGO. “It has the responsibility of operating the crematorium until December 2027 therefore its contract terms have been revised. For the remaining two crematoriums, we have invited interested parties for their operation with this mandatory condition,” official added.

According to the MCD, about 15-20 cremations take place in these three crematoriums and five quintals of wood are used in one cremation.

A Jwala Nagar crematorium management committee official said that they have started using cow dung cakes for cremations after receiving orders from the corporation. “The wood is sold at ₹700 per quintal and cow dung cakes will be offered at the same price. We are sourcing them from Uttar Pradesh. Cremation with cow dung cakes will take longer because building the pyre takes more time,” he added. To be sure, the moisture content in the cow dung cakes can lead to more smoke emanating in comparison to dry wood.

In December, a standing committee directed the public health department to set up three model crematoria. Conversion of traditional crematoria to cleaner fuels is also a mandate under the National Clean Air Program (NCAP).

A source apportionment study conducted by IIT Kanpur (2016) assessed only 53 cremation sites, indicating how cremation sites are adding 4% of toxic carbon monoxide emissions in Delhi’s environment. It concludes that over 2129kg carbon monoxide, 33kg of sulphur dioxide, 346kgs of PM10 and 312 kgs of PM2.5 dust particles were being emitted daily due to cremations.