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Bankrupt PCB gets Rs1 crore from Lions Club for ultra-modern electric crematorium
The cremation facility will require a monthly maintenance of ₹1.50 lakh which will be brought down to ₹80,000 to ₹90,000 due to CNG
In a major relief for the residents of the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) and neighbouring areas, the Lions Club of Pune, Bibwewadi, has funded the setting up of an ultra-modern electric crematorium worth ₹1 crore to replace the PCB’s now-dysfunctional Muktidham electric cremation facility which went kaput after a chimney blast last April. Currently, work on the installation of two brand-new furnaces has begun as part of a complete overhaul of the crematorium infrastructure at Dhobi ghat.
Subrat Pal, CEO, PCB, said that the Muktidham electric cremation facility was built in 2003 and initially had a small platform with a shelf life of 12 years. Following extensive usage, the facility became old and was further rendered useless after the chimney blast. “Due to the lack of funds, the repair and reconstruction work got delayed. Members of the Lions Club of Pune, Bibwewadi, rose to the occasion and funded the entire project. The new facility will be completed by January, and will ensure that 12 bodies are cremated within 30 minutes at 650 degree centigrade in two furnaces that will be operated in CNG mode. The cremation facility will require a monthly maintenance of Rs1.50 lakh which will be brought down to ₹80,000 to ₹90,000 due to CNG,” Pal said. The PCB will write to the cantonment police, seeking patrolling and prosecution of criminal elements encroaching upon the crematorium facility, Pal said. Besides, CCTVs will be installed to keep a check on visitors, he added.
While members of the Lions Club of Pune, Bibwewadi - Mahendra Oswal, Ajit Chouhan and Govind Chauhan – along with their respective teams, led a delegation to the PCB on the occasion of the formal soft launch of the project. “We decided to fund the project as citizens were suffering due to the lack of a proper cremation facility. We have funded Rs1 crore for the new facility in the larger interests of the nation and humanity,” said Oswal.
In 2021, the PCB had sent a proposal seeking ₹1.50 crore from the principal director of defence estates (PDDE), southern command, for the setting up of two CNG-operated furnaces at the crematorium. But in the absence of funds from the centre and GST revenue from the state, there was no further progress in this area. The PCB is directly governed by the central government under the aegis of the ministry of defence.
