--Bodies burnt with wood emanate foul stench
PNS
: The cremation furnace in Satyanagar in the heart of the capital city here has been lying defunct for last many months and the  Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been silent on taking measures to get it functional.

Thousands of people around Bhubaneswar, leaving their nearest crematory, come to Satyanagar to burn bodies in the incinerator but the defunct furnace has forced them to burn in a traditional way with wood.

Burning in the electric incinerator is very economical and costs around Rs 350 only but if it is done in a traditional way with wood then it becomes expensive. The issue has not only harmed the people economically but the area surrounding the crematory has been polluted with the fetid fumes as people resort to wood-burning. People residing in these areas and local pedestrians get suffocated with the stench.

While the BMC, on the one hand, is busy in modernizing and beautifying the capital city of Bhubaneswar but on the other, it has turned a blind eye towards the major issue. As hundreds of bodies have been cremated in Satyanagar with wood for over last few months, it has resulted in emission of plenty of carbon dioxide and malodorous fumes.

The employees on duty in the Satyanagar crematory said that since July 2 last the electric incinerator had been non-operational. The problem was further compounded due to non-availability of local mechanics who  could repair it, they added.

"To get it repaired we have to depend on the mechanics from Kolkata; so most of the time the incinerator is in non- working condition as the mechanics are not available at a short notice. Several times complaints have been raised with the concerned authority but in vain," they informed.

Environmentalist and social worker Sushanta Kumar Sahoo,  expressing his concern, appealed to the authority to resolve the issue permanently. Sahoo also said that BMC must take the issue seriously