A cremation spot of the Lalbagh Kamrangir Char Crematorium is in a bad shape as no renovation work took place in the crematorium for long. — New Age photo

The Lalbagh Kamrangir Char Crematorium has remained in a very poor condition with dilapidated and dirty outlooks due to poor maintenance and lack of renovation.
The crematorium, situated at Raznarayan Dhar Road at Lalbagh in the city, has five corporation officials, including a caretaker, a priest and three coroner’s assistants.
But the officials concerned at the Dhaka South City Corporation confirmed New Age about its area.
The DCC (South) chief estate officer, Tajul Islam Pradhan, told new Age on Thursday that he did not know much about the crematorium.
‘Before I can tell you something about the crematorium, I need to collect information from the related zone office,’ he added.
The crematorium has two compounds on its premises — one used for burning bodies and the other for burying the bodies of children and some of elderly people who had a wish to be buried.
In the first compound there is a room to burn bodies during rain or for burning any other body brought on the same day.
Both the compounds, during a visit, were found in damaged and dirty condition.
The boundary wall of the cremation place is in a bad shape and wastes are littered around the place.
A ditch for dumping the cremated remains was also found covered with wastes.
‘Recently we urged the corporation’s head office to renovate the crematorium. We were told that the boundary wall and the pond will be renovated but no move in this regard was noticeable,’ one of the staff there said.
The DCC (South) chief engineer Zahangir Alam said if there had been any demand for refurbishing the crematorium, he would take action.
‘We will carry reform works of the crematorium gradually,’ he added.
However, the undivided city corporation allocated Tk 2 crore for refurbishing its two crematoria in the budget for the fiscal 2011-2012. The other one is located at Postagola.
During a visit on Wednesday, no staff was found present at the Lalbagh crematorium. Later, the caretaker could be found in his residence.
While contacted over phone, the DCC (South) zone 3 regional executive officer KM Kabir Ahmed said he was not fully aware of this crematorium and its employees as well.
‘Please talk to our head office about this crematorium,’ he said.