*Famous Photo Journalist Manoj Srivastava's pictures show a black- smokestack coming out in the air from Ranchi's sole electric crematorium in Harmu locality. It is visible from any neighborhood resident’s front or back yard and threatening to cause depression to many of them.

Some residents of a busy Harmu and its adjoining neighborhood are raising concerns about a nearby electric crematorium. Many of them are demanding relief and answer to their fear that whether smoke and vapors from an unassuming stack atop this facility are a local health risk at the ongoing COVID-19 environment. 

Neighbors of the Harmu locality, which has operated as a funeral home at that location since May 31, 2020, when it was made operational in view of the Coronavirus pandemic, plan to convene a meeting with the residents this week. Some of them want to obtain more details about just what is being emitted. The crematory’s location in a residential area is causing untold miseries to residents.

“Our main contention is that we don’t feel in our own home when deadly smoke emanates from the electric crematorium. It's too bad, to say the least", cribs Manoj Srivastava, a photojournalist who resides near the Harmu Electric Crematorium. “We don’t feel safe around it.”

More people are echoing simpler sentiments and plead that the Ranchi Municipal Corporation ends this dead smoke pollution. All dead bodies in Ranchi are cremated in this electric crematorium. Prior to May 31, all dead bodies of Hindus were cremated by wooden fire at Harmu Mukti Dham.  

Sudhir Singh, a Lecturer of Ranchi University notes that he lived in the building after the crematory was installed and now works next door every day without getting normal sleep."Its hell", he said."The problem is the RMC is mum. Its authorities are just not bothered. Neither any authority of the state government or pollution controllers."

The Electric Crematorium is the only provider of cremations in the state capital. All dead bodies of COVID -19 are cremated here.  “I’m probably more on top of depression than any other resident in Harmu, to be honest with you,” Srivastava said.

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