The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has begun working on the city's first municipal pet crematorium in Dwarka. The long-awaited project was initially revealed in 2018. According to the House Leader, Inderjeet Sehrawat the project is expected to be completed in the next four months, by April 2022.
According to Sehrawat, the veterinary department is establishing the city's first CNG-based small animal cremation centre, where their ashes would be stored for 15 days after following proper protocol. The project is being carried out in a public-private partnership mode (for a period of ten years). The NGO Green Revolution Foundation will cover the whole cost of building, upkeep, and maintenance of this cremation ground. The agreement authorizes the agency to run the facility for a period of ten years. The agency was chosen through an open tender process.
According to a senior official from the veterinary department, the facility will be built on a 700 square meter space inside the 4-acre dog care complex in Dwarka. Currently, there is a sterilization centre that is operational in the area.
Other amenities will also be offered. One such amenity will be the prayer rooms. They're also putting together a locker room. The plant will feature two furnaces, one with a capacity of 200kg biomass and the other with a capacity of 150kg biomass each cycle, respectively. Each cremation cycle will last between 30 and an hour. It is also stated that the facility would be smokeless.
The developer will be required to build an air pollution control system as part of the contract. The CNG eco-friendly cremation will be built using modern air filtration equipment, resulting in a 98 percent smokeless and pollution-free environment. A wet scrubber will also be used to filter out the smoke. While the project was originally intended to be a dog-only crematorium, it has expanded to home other small animals such as cats, goats, sheep, and monkeys.
The other four agencies—the North MCD, east MCD, New Delhi Municipal Council, and Delhi Cantonment Board—would be responsible for transporting the animals to the centre a short while after their demise, while the NGO will be in charge of transporting the animals from the SDMC regions to the Dwarka centre.
Dr. Ravindra Sharma, director (veterinary department) SDMC said that since many pet owners desired dignified last rites for their pets, the crematorium would also arrange for priests and urns. There would be a storage facility for ashes at the new crematorium for 15 days after cremation so that individuals can collect them later.
