Apart from offering options of traditional wood, liquefied petroleum Gas (LPG) gas-powered and electrically operated pyres, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has added another option of providing eco-friendly briquettes (bricks) which can be used for cremations. In a first of its kind initiative in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the MBMC which aims to become environment-friendly in every way has launched a project to replace wood logs with eco-friendly briquettes (blocks/bricks) made out of horticulture and tree waste for cremations in the twin-city.
Outsourced to Akshata Biomass Fuel Briquettes- a Nashik-based private agency on an operate and maintain (OM) model, the recycling project which has been set up near the bus depot in the Ghodbunder village area of Kashimira was commissioned on 15. March, 2024 in exchange of royalty amounting Rs.1,800 per tonne. “The recycling project to convert agri-waste into eco-friendly briquettes is a part of our go green-go clean campaign. So far, the agency has recycled agri-waste into more than 20 tonnes of eco-friendly briquettes.” said municipal commissioner- Sanjay Katkar. Horticulture waste including branches, dead and dangerous trees removed and collected by MBMC’s tree authority during the periodical trimming and pruning drives in gardens and roadsides are the primary ingredients to manufacture the bricks. The process involves proper segregation of horticulture and tree waste which is crushed to powder and finally compressed under high pressure to churn out the eco-friendly cylindrical bricks.
For traditionally cremating a body, nearly 300 to 350 kg of wood is required for an open pyre, but the compressed and uniformly sized eco-friendly bricks is not only reducing the consumption by nearly 35 percent but is also adding funds to the civic kitty. At present, there are 14 crematoriums across the twin-city which are run and maintained by the civic administration.
