A greener way to go: Mohali school girl comes up with eco-friendly cremation alternatives

In a bid to promote eco-friendly ways of cremation, Mohali municipal corporation (MC) has set up a machine to prepare cow dung logs at Gaushala, Industrial Area Phase 1, and supply them to the crematorium.The initiative has been taken following the efforts of a class eleven student of the city, Suhani Sharma, who pitched the idea and raised funds to get this cow dung log making machine.

Sharing her views, Suhani said, “ After my grandfather’s demise in April this year, we took his body to our paternal home in Jaipur for his last rites. There, I learned about the use of cow dung briquettes for cremation. I also learnt that nearly 500 kg of wood, equivalent to two trees, is needed to cremate one body. This wood is obtained from trees indigenous to the Indian continent, like mango, neem, banyan and peepal trees, which can live up to 400 years but to fulfil our needs, these trees are cut at a tender age of 15-20 years.”

“During my visits to gaushalas, I realised that a large part of the cow dung is thrown away in landfills or at roadsides. The cow dung briquettes are a much cleaner alternative to wood as they produce significantly fewer emissions, and are a renewable resource. For the last three months, I studied the various models of the machinery available for this purpose, shared my ideas at various forums and finally succeeded in arranging this machinery,” she added.

MC commissioner Navjot Kaur said, “Suhani had been visiting the Gaushala with her school friends. She pitched the idea of making cow dung briquettes so that we can reduce our reliance on wood. We encouraged her and promised our support for this eco-friendly endeavour in terms of providing space in the gaushala. Our gaushala produces about 2.5 tons of cow dung every day. We use some of it for vermicomposting, and for making pots and diyas. Still, over 1.5 tons of the waste can be spared for making logs to be used in the crematorium”

The in-charge of Mohali crematorium stated, “The calorific value of the cow dung briquettes is higher than the wood. Nearly 250-300 kg of briquettes will be sufficient to cremate one body. With the current pace of supply of briquettes from the Gaushala, the wood dependence can be cut down by 50%.”