"Electric 'chulha' in a new crematorium in Tambutilla near NIT will be built soon," Aminul Haque Laskar

The deputy speaker of Assam who is also the MLA from Sonai Constituency had submitted a demand to build 17 new crematoriums in various parts within his constituency. The people of Tambutilla, which happens to be at equidistant from National Institute of Technology, Assam University Silchar, Veterinary, with Silchar Medical College and Hospital not that far had reached out to the MLA demanding a newly upgraded crematorium.

“A huge number of Hindu population reside in the quarters of these institutions and most of them depend on the Silchar Samshan for cremation. So, my demand to the honourable chief minister was to sanction some fund for the construction of a crematorium and not electric furnace (Chulah) in particular,” informs the deputy speaker.

While speaking with Barak Bulletin he says, “But then when we realised that the number of dead bodies rises up to 4 to 5 on the same day, we thought of an electric furnace. The chief minister has said that he will sanction Rs 1 crore and I am hopeful that it would be done soon and the Electric Chulha in a new crematorium in Tambutilla near NIT will be built soon.”

The demand for an electric furnace in Silchar is long pending. First, ONGC had assured that it would commission the project under Silchar Municipality board, however, the board under the chairmanship of Niharendra Narayan Thakur failed to reach a consensus with the public sector unit. Former MP, Sushmita Dev raised the issue in Parliament in Modi 1.0 and the Coal Minister, Piyush Goyal assured his ministry will fund the project, The Municipality board failed to get the sanction, as according to sources, “It did not furnish necessary documents.”

The Rs 2.4 crore project was then sanctioned under City Infrastructure Development Scheme but that has also hit a roadblock. Highly placed sources informed that a Kolkata based consultation company was hired to prepare the project. Accordingly, the organisation prepared the project and it was sent to the State government. However, in February 2020, the Urban Development Ministry asked for some technical details which are yet to be furnished.

Meanwhile, due to the COVID crisis, dead bodies are pilling in the morgue of Silchar Medical College and Hospital as only one pyre in Silchar Samshan has been allotted for then cremation of the COVID victims.

The Sonai MLA said it is too early to predict a timeline, but assured that the crematorium in Tambutilla will be “built soon.”