AFP/Getty Imagesīut these systems, which burn no wood and generate no smoke, have by-and-large failed, mainly due to financial and religious reasons. Indians pay last respects at a mass cremation of 15 school girls at the banks of the river Orsang in Bamroli on April 16, 2008. In order to tackle the environmental problems stemming from these sites, the Indian government and environmental groups have, over the years, promoted the use of electric systems as an alternate way of cremation. New Delhi has about 400 traditional cremation grounds, while Mumbai has around 300, according to Mokshda. More than seven million Hindus die each year in India and the sight of corpses surrendering to the flames of traditional funeral pyres is part of the country’s daily cycle of life. “When you are burning those trees, you are emitting about eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions,” said Mokshda director Anshul Garg.Īir pollution and deforestation are not the only environmental threats caused by cremation: They also generate large quantities of ash, which are later thrown into rivers, adding to the toxicity of their waters, according to Mokshda. “There is a lot of consumption of wood,” he added.Īnd it’s because of this that these ceremonies, designed to release the soul from mortal flesh, pose a threat to the living, according to some environmentalists.Ībout 50 to 60 million trees are being consumed in the cremation sector every yearįifty to 60 million trees are burned during cremations every year in India, according to Mokshda, a Delhi-based NGO working to reduce the environmental impact of funeral pyres. “The smoke is all around the ground,” said Ankur Agrawal, a 31-year-old iron merchant who recently attended the final rites of his uncle at a cremation ground in the city of Moradabad in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This is a traditional Hindu funeral pyre – an ancient ritual that goes back thousands of years in which devotees cremate bodies by burning firewood in an open ground. Draped in a white shroud, the body of a man is engulfed in flames atop a massive pile of wood, the insatiable fire churning out ashes for hours.Ī few yards away, a group of mourners chants prayers as the stench of burning flesh guides a billowing cloud of black smoke high into the Indian sky.
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