City to get animal carcass incineration plant at Palasuni

Bhubaneswar: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will set up a carcass incineration plant at Palasuni to dispose of the carcasses of small animals, including those of street dogs. On an average, the BMC deals with at least 10 stray animal carcasses in a day, which it currently buries.

Debi Prasad Kund, in charge of the BMC’s animal birth control (ABC) programme, said the decision to built the incineration plant was taken as people kept opposing the burial of animals close to their localities. “Except cattle, all small animals’ carcasses will be disposed of using the incineration method for a safe, effective, quick and environment-friendly way. A land has been selected to set up the plant at Palasuni. There is no plan so far on reuse of the ash to be generated from the incinerator,” Kund said.

He added this is as good as a gas-based crematorium that BMC has created for humans. It will hire a private party to run and maintain it under certain conditions.

The BMC officials said the incinerator will help reduce time and cost and make disposal easier. “As per the current practice, we bury the carcass after the health wing of the civic body lifts the dead animals. But now they will be burnt in an incinerator, which is less cumbersome and cost-effective. The construction work is underway, and machines will be installed soon,” a BMC official said.

The BMC officials said that in an urban area, disposing of the carcasses of stray dogs and cattle is a challenging task, as burial is not a long-term solution and requires space. “In many cities in India, electric crematoriums for stray animals exist. In Odisha, Bhubaneswar will be the first to set one up. The govt is also in favour of introducing innovations and using modern means to dispose of animal carcasses,” he added.

Additionally, the BMC planned to procure three specialised vehicles to lift abandoned carcasses. When the BMC receives reports of abandoned carcasses in a locality, the sanitary workers of that particular area are informed to lift the carcass and carry it in a pushcart or tricycle. This process is time-consuming, and handling the carcass lifting is also hazardous, the BMC officials said.

They added one such vehicle will be provided to each of the three zones of the BMC.

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