MCD clears free cremation at CNG, electric facilities to curb pollution

According to the proposal, between 2023-25, only 8 to 9% of human bodies were cremated using CNG or electric furnaces. This will encourage the use of CNG and electric crematoriums and thereby “reduce smoke emissions by burning of fuel wood for human cremation in Delhi”.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Monday approved the provision of free cremation facilities at CNG and electric crematoriums across the city in a bid to reduce air pollution, even as the House meeting ended amid uproar over the Delhi government’s decision to authorise the body’s commissioner to approve projects of up to ₹50 crore.

The project was approved for two years on a pilot basis (Hindustan Times)

According to the proposal, between 2023-25, only 8 to 9% of human bodies were cremated using CNG or electric furnaces. This will encourage the use of CNG and electric crematoriums and thereby “reduce smoke emissions by burning of fuel wood for human cremation in Delhi”. The project was approved for two years on a pilot basis. It is expected to cost ₹2 crore per year.

The MCD currently oversees 59 wood-based cremation grounds, nine CNG-based crematoriums, and one electric-based one. CNG cremations cost ₹1,500, while electric crematoriums charge ₹500 per body.

MCD leader of opposition Ankush Narang accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of wanting to reduce the powers of the councillors over the move to permit the commissioner to approve bigger projects. Before this, the commissioner was allowed to approve projects only up to ₹5 crore, with projects exceeding this amount requiring approval from the standing committee and final clearance from the MCD House.

The Delhi government had taken the decision on February 7 in, what it said was, a bid to accelerate development works in the MCD.

Narang raised the issue in the House leading to protests from BJP councillors, following which the proposals were passed and the meeting was adjourned. In a post on X, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor said, “When the BJP itself holds the Mayor, the Standing Committee Chairman, and the majority in the House, then what exactly is the compulsion to bypass the elected Standing Committee and House and grant unchecked authority of ₹50 crore to the bureaucrats.”

Additionally, the House also passed a proposal to comply with the Section 4 (1)(b) of Right To Information Act, 2005, which obligates public authorities to provide information to the public of their own accord. This comes after activist Paras Tyagi filed an RTI asking why the MCD does not upload documents related to corporation proceedings online. Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court had also reprimanded the body for failing to do so over the past 20 years, saying that it was a violation of transparency mandates under the RTI Act.

Of the total 55 proposals passed by the House, 36 had to do with the naming of several roads and parks across Delhi after prominent public and historical figures. Among others, the House approved the naming of a Public Health Centre (PHC) in Matiala after former member of legislative assembly and deputy mayor Rajesh Gehlot; polyclinic hospital in Mehrauli after B.R. Ambedkar, and a park in Keshavpuram after RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar. A park in Ashok Vihar has also been named after Bhagat Singh, while another in Rohini’s Sector 24 after Savitribai Phule.

Many roads and parks will be named after local social workers popular in the respective areas. Additionally, a road in Narela’s Pooth Khurd village will be named after late Indian Army Lieutenant Bharat Singh, a gate on a road in Narela’a Nangal Thakran will be named after freedom fighter Chaudhary Chhaju Ram, and a Dhalo in Ashok Vihar will be named after King Agrasen.