SHILLONG, April 16: There seems to be no end to the recurring issues at Shillong’s lone electric crematorium in Jhalupara, which continues to reel under the lack of proper upkeep.
A person, who had gone to cremate one of his relatives earlier this week, while requesting anonymity, said that the place is not properly maintained.
“The place should be maintained by whoever is managing the place and accountability should be there whether it’s some committee or government body,” the person lamented.
He had visited the place to cremate one of his relatives only to find no electricity. The gathering was coerced into waiting for a few hours with a lifeless body, but to no avail. They eventually resorted to cremating the body at a nearby traditional crematorium late evening.
It is said that people who visit the crematorium have to now wait for hours in view of several logistical challenges.
It has also been informed that the cremation cost, which is Rs 2,500, doubles to Rs 5,000 when there is no electricity and a generator has to be used.
President of the Greater Shillong Crematorium and Mortuary Society JL Das has informed that the crematorium is under trail period and only last year, they had handed over the project to the Urban Affairs department for renovation.
“Right now we are only supporting the crematorium,” Das said.
It is learnt that the problems at the crematorium were also intimated to the Cabinet Minister Sanbor Shullai, who had visited the place earlier this week. Following his visit to the crematorium, Shullai has also taken up the matter with the authorities operating the building.
