‘We may not go to heaven, but it is important to make this place heavenly before we leave,’ reads one of the posters at Swarg Vatika, supposedly Andhra Pradesh’s first eco-friendly crematorium located in Trimulgherry.
Spread over 2.75 acres, the crematorium was started by the Swarg Vatika Trust. The facility, a public-private partnership, tries to defy the gloom that usually envelops a death with aesthetically designed landscape, rock gardens and even a fountain. Giving of an almost comforting aura, the crematorium also has a huge parking space to accommodate large processions.
The peaceful and spacious ambience is slightly marred by the electric furnace that is run using LPG and CNG and another furnace that uses wood for people who wish to abide by the traditional norms of the final rites.
Talking about the Vatika, chairman DN Gauri tells us, “The land has been donated by the government and the maintenance is done by the trust. While the objective is to be eco friendly, some people prefer wood. Keeping their sentiments in mind, we offer that provision as well. However, the quantity of wood is 1/3rd lesser than the original amount. For the very traditional, manual cremation on a pyre can also be done here. But we try to discourage the practice as much as we can.”
The speciality of the crematorium is that it uses bio mass gassifiers to clean the harmful gases as much as possible. A ‘wet scrubber’ is connected to both the furnaces which sprinkles water, sending the dirt particles underground, releasing purified air out of a chimney that is 100 feet high.
This also partly takes care of the foul smell that usually emanates when a human body is cremated.
Certified by the Pollution Control Board, the eco-friendly crematorium offers other facilities like freezer boxes for the bodies and lockers where ashes can be stored in case people wish to collect them later.
The charges for cremation in a wooden furnace is `3500 and electrical furnace is Rs 3400.
“Despite LPG and CNG rates being high, we have affordable rates right now because we want to draw as many people as we can to adopt the eco-friendly way of cremation,” informs Gauri.