Bio-friendly method

In this 21st century it is time our community used safe, modern technology for the disposal of the departed instead of a controversial and millennia old dakhme­nashini system in a city of over 14 million inhabitants.

The "water reduction” process is fire free. At no time does the individual corpse come in contact with an open flame. The corpse is contained in a dissolvable coffin which is placed inside a horizontal stainless steel pressure vessel and the door closed. The operator presses a single button on the touch screen of a user friendly Siemens control panel to begin the fully automated process. The integral load cells weigh the body and the appropriate amount of water and alkali are added automatically to the vessel which is quickly heated via steam to around 150°C. (The system’s steam temperature of 300°F in the container is extremely low when compared to typical open flame temperatures of fires and flames which can range from 1,830° F to 3,645°F.) The body is thus resolved into its component elements.

The entire process is completed in two or three hours. The size of the body is not a critical factor as the largest body will be resolved in the same time as the smallest. All embalming fluid is neutralized into a harmless chemical compound. The bones, left after this "water reduction” process are completely sterile, mostly intact and brittle enough to be powdered to ash with the bare hands.

This is truly a bio-responsible alternative to dakhmenashini, incineration or burial. Parsi industrial conglomerates could easily take the agency for this system and promote it in Bombay and other Zoroastrian communities where the dakhma is still used. It can also be of use to other communities in the country. Thousands of partly burnt bodies are dumped in the Ganga each year, polluting this holy river, and a dozen such units installed at Varanasi would not only clean up the mess but also save millions of tons of lumber, which would be environmentally prudent.

Full technical data on this excellent system of responsible human cadaver disposal has been forwarded to my cousin Jamsheed Kanga (jgkanga@vsnl.net) who could be contacted if further information about the process is required.

EDUL KANGA

Toronto, Canada

ekanga@sympatico.ca