MARGAO: Keen on stemming the practice of felling trees to obtain logs for cremation, the centuries-old Hindu Mathgramstha Sabha (HMS) is leading the way in environmental conservation by promoting the use of biomass briquettes as fuel at its crematorium in Margao.
Biomass briquettes are a type of biofuel made of compressed agricultural waste such as straw, sugarcane bagasse, coconut husks, rice husks, maize stalks and groundnut shells. It is increasingly being viewed as an environment-friendly fuel that also offsets the dependence on fast-depleting and costly fuel sources such as wood.
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HMS president Bhai Naik told O Heraldo that at least 70 bodies are interred at the crematorium each month.
“Annually, wood from nearly 200-250 trees is being used as fuel on pyres, which is not just expensive but also comes at a great cost to the environment. Besides, huge amounts are spent on labour to cut and transport the wood to the crematorium, with 400 kg of wood being used to inter a single body,” he said.
The sabha introduced biomass briquettes at the crematorium just a few days ago and used them to cremate unidentified and unclaimed bodies. It found that it needed to employ just one labourer to transport the 25-kg bags of briquettes to the crematorium, and also that costs decreased by 20-30%. The sabha now aims to increase usage of briquettes to 50% in the next three to four months.
“We will not adopt blanket use of the briquettes until the people are themselves convinced and serious about saving trees,” Naik said.
“Who knows whether we will have trees at all in the near future, considering how rampantly they are being felled,” he said.
The HMS sources its briquettes from Punjab Renewable Energy System Private Limited located at Saligao.
