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Two electric crematoriums resume service after weeks of delay, two still out of order
Social workers say LMC, the agency that maintains them, has been least responsive to their complaints and requests for repairs
While two electric crematoriums in the state capital have remained out of order since the past month, two others were repaired and recommissioned again only on Friday, weeks after they developed snags and stopped working.
These machines are located at the Bhaisakund and Gulalaghat areas of Lucknow.
Social workers and others, meanwhile, claimed that Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC), the agency that maintains them, had been least responsive to their complaints and requests for repairs even as the first machine reportedly went out of order around two months ago.
Riddhi Kishore Gaur, a social worker, said, “These crematoriums have essentially become decorative pieces. Now when unclaimed bodies or those from underprivileged families come to us, we have to arrange firewood, which has become expensive by 50% lately. Due to prolonged closures, those who preferred this environment-friendly method are left with no choice but to use traditional wood-based cremation.”
Another social worker Varsha Verma, who helps civic authorities cremate the bodies of destitute persons, said, “Around 360 kg of wood is required to cremate one body. But if the cremation is done at an electric crematorium, then we save 360 kg of wood and a tree from felling.”
She said her NGO cremated four to six unclaimed bodies every day. “We don’t have to spend anything on a cremation at the electric crematorium. If we use wood, instead, then we have to dole out ₹20,000 per day for its purchase.”
While three of these crematoriums were commissioned three years ago, the oldest one was installed about 40 years ago in 1985. Each facility handles about nine to 12 bodies on average daily.
Meanwhile, some questioned how all four facilities developed technical snags around the same time. They also speculated the involvement of a wood mafia.
The corporator from the Mankameshwar ward, Ranjit Singh noted that his attempts to get the LMC to commit to the repairs had so far been futile. “I have personally complained to the municipal commissioner, but nothing has been done. According to my sources, these crematoriums are not being properly maintained by the LMC’s technical staff, despite being relatively new. These machines keep developing snags due to poor maintenance. Sometimes people claim that because of wood mafia these machines were put deliberately out of order.”
Electric crematoriums going out of order have broader implications. A popular choice not only for environmental reasons, but also these facilities do not impose any charge on families, and cremations conducted require less time. “Despite reminders and complaints, LMC officials are not acting,” Singh added.
Manoj Prabhat, the chief engineer at LMC’s rubbish removal department (which directly oversees the maintenance of these crematoriums), said: “Body-resting bricks and coils of these machines were burnt due to excessive heat generated during the cremation process. Them going out of order is not because the machines are of poor quality but due to the intensity of heat generated.”
He said one facility each at Gulalaghat and Bhaisakund had been repaired and spare parts for other machines had also arrived. He said the other two facilities would start functioning again soon.
