The residents of Karuppayurani panchayat in Madurai east panchayat union are forced to bid an unpleasant farewell to their dear ones as the crematorium in the panchayat is also used as a dump yard for disposing of waste collected from around 19 villages.
Family and acquaintances who visit the place accompanying the mortal remains of their dear ones to fulfil the last rites expect a clean and hygienic environment.
Conservancy workers who were dumping the collected waste in the crematorium when The Hindu visited the location said they had been using the same location for more than 10 years.
Though residents complain of the unpleasant environment every now and then, the panchayat due to unavailability of vacant land continues to use the crematorium premises, according to the workers.
While the degradable waste would be removed from the dump yard to be used for producing manure in the micro composting centre situated contiguous with the crematorium, non-biodegradable waste is dumped in a separated area on the same premises.
Sometimes, if the crematorium was not locked, local body workers would also dump waste at the site, alleged the worker.
When the workers had the practice of burning the waste at the same crematorium to get rid of the waste, with repeated complaints from the residents and activists, the burning practice was stopped, said the worker.
A villager said, the panchayat had recently spent ₹2 lakh for fixing paver block, ₹ 1.30 lakh for building an elevated cremating stage and another ₹1 lakh for installing a roof for the cremating stage.
“While lakhs of rupees is spent on the beautification of the crematorium, what is the purpose of it when the same location is used as a dumping site,” asked the resident.
Madurai east panchayat union officials said that the matter would be looked into and an appropriate location selected for dumping the waste.
“We hope the panchayat is annexed to Madurai Corporation soon so that lack of space issue would be resolved,” the officials added.
Published - November 08, 2024 08:44 pm IST
