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Hinjewadi crematorium set to cost gram panchayat Rs 28 lakh
Hindustan Times, on 13 July, had highlighted how the villagers were forced to cremate their dead on a busy road of the IT Park.
A month after Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) demarcated a plot of 6,000 square feet for a new crematorium for village Gawarewadi in phase-3 of the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park at Hinjewadi, the village Gram Panchayat has also drawn up an estimate of Rs 28 lakh for the construction of the crematorium.
Hindustan Times, on 13 July, had highlighted how the villagers were forced to cremate their dead on a busy road of the IT Park. This reportage moved the district administration into taking swift action and demarcate land for a new crematorium. The village Panchayat of Gawarwadi has now drawn up an estimate of Rs 28 lakh for the new crematorium.
The Gram Panchayat has also fenced the newly-demarcated plot reserved for the crematorium. Speaking to HT, deputy sarpanch of Gawarewadi Gram Panchayat, Sandeep Sathe said, “After the plot was handed over to us, we first removed the debris and fenced the plot to prevent any encroachment.”
Having drawn up the estimate, the Gram Panchayat will now call for tenders paving the way for the construction. The work was slowed down by the heavy rainfall last month.
District authorities were forced to take swift action after the villagers undertook the cremation on the IT Park road, angry with the absence of a crematorium in their vicinity. The dramatic visuals of the roadside cremation amidst high-rise buildings forced the district officials to take action.The villagers had threatened to undertake the 10th day post-death rituals at the same spot as a part of their protest.
It was about seven years ago that MIDC had acquired the land for phase three of the IT Park at Hinjewadi and had earmarked a plot for the crematorium. The Gram Panchayat could not undertake the construction due to violent opposition from the neighbouring plot owner. They were thus forced to take their near and dear ones to the another crematorium four to six kilometers away or undertake the cremation by a road inside the IT Park itself. So far, 45 such cremations had been conducted without any corrective action from the administrators of Pune district.
