A project crucial to reducing the stress on the environment in West Tambaram, which has been pending for five years, will finally be made operational soon.
Work on the wood-gas fired crematorium, also called a gasifier, began in December 2007 and was to be completed less than a year later. However, this was not to be and work remained incomplete all these years.
In June 2007, Tambaram was among 32 municipalities selected by the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply for building gasifiers, each of which was to cost Rs. 52 lakh. The State government and the respective local bodies were to share the project cost.
Officials said work on the gasifier in West Tambaram, located on Somangalam Road, has been completed. The main building was ready and the furnace too was in place. A chimney has been installed and the gasifier has been successfully tested.
A Trust has been formed to help the municipality in its operation and maintenance of the facility. Final touches are being given and the gasifier would become operational after the landscaping, said officials. A decision would soon be taken on charges to be collected for cremation.
Other municipalities in the Chengalpattu region that were selected along with Tambaram included Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Ambattur, Avadi and Cuddalore
In conventional cremation sheds, there have been complaints of staff fleecing relatives of the deceased and these issues would be solved in gasifiers where greater transparency would prevail. Charges would be fixed by the municipality and proper receipts would be issued, officials added.
Keywords: wood-gas fired crematorium, Tambaram gasifier
