IIT Delhi’s innovation for cremation | Fusion - WeRIndia

Air pollution is the term which worries people a lot these days.

Vehicle emissions, burning garbage and firecrackers, farm stubble etc. are some of the reasons for air pollution.

Yet, cremation is one thing that contributes to poor air quality that often gets overlooked.

The cremation rate in India is the second highest in the world, with 75% of the deceased being cremated.

In Delhi alone, 3.6 crore kg wood is required to cremate 80,000 deceased people each year at the rate of 400-500 kg of wood for each burning.

In this situation, the students of IIT Delhi developed a new eco-friendly technique which solves the air and water pollution problem, and waste management.

Dairy farming generates huge bio-waste in the form of cow dung. Though some part is used as a natural fertilizer, major part is wasted in the landfills and lakes.

Hence, students of IIT-D designed a prototype machine which is powered by cow dung logs. They named the initiative as ‘Arth’.

These logs will be created by feeding dried cow dung to a log-making machine. This machine is used for burning the dung up to 50⁰C.

Thus, the controlled burning and usage of cow dung logs help to lower pollution.

The team said that the prototype yielded positive results in the test with less pollution and smoother process.

So, they are going to work on manufacturing a machine to produce more logs.

The team hopes to replace the wood with this prototype for lesser environment pollution and more efficient waste disposal.

They say that if this prototype is being used, farmers will receive extra incentives for cattle dung.

Cows are worshipped in India. And cow dung is being used in cremations for several years, so, it won’t hinder the religious beliefs as per the in-charges of some cremation grounds.

Image Reference: Thebetterindia