Kolkata: State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim will inaugurate a pyre dedicated for cremation of carcasses at Pramod Nagar in Dum Dum cantonment area on Tuesday. The announcement was made by the minister on Saturday soon after he visited Dhapa to supervise the construction work of two more pyres for cremation of bodies.
"The pyre for cremation of dead animals is the first-of-its-kind in the country," said Hakim. The work for the pyre at Pramod Nagar under South Dum Dum municipality is being executed by the state Public Works Department. "To begin with, carcasses of stray animals will be cremated," said a senior official of the municipality. The KMC is coming up with two state-of-the-art pyres at Dhapa, where two bodies can be cremated at the same time. One of these pyres will be made functional by the end of this month, while the other one will operate from January 10. The Civil wing of the civic body has been working on a war footing for the last few months.
The crematoriums at Dhapa, Nimtala and Birjunala in Garden Reach are being used for cremation of Covid victims. "There is tremendous pressure at Dhapa as all unclaimed bodies are cremated here. One of the existing pyre is very old and is susceptible to technical snag. It is causing a lot of inconvenience. Once the new pyres become functional, we will take up thorough repair of the old pyre," Hakim said.