PUNE: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will install a CNG-run pet incinerator at Nehrunagar in Pimpri to help overcome the space constraint at its pet cemetery in Pimpri. The civic administration has forwarded a proposal to the civic standing committee seeking approval for the construction and commissioning of the incinerator at a cost of Rs 38 lakh.

PCMC veterinary office Satish Gore said, "The incinerator will be installed on 5,000 sq ft area of the pet cemetery. The PCMC would want to run it on the public-private partnership model. The contractor who will install the incinerator will operate it for a year."

The incinerator will be for cremation of small pet animals like birds, dogs, cats, rabbits, sheep, goats and other fancy pets. "We will also allow pet calves (young cows) to be cremated. The minimum charges for cremation will be Rs 300 and maximum Rs 700, depending on the size and weight of the animal," Gore said. The civic body already runs a pet cemetery in Nehrunagar over a plot of 20,000 sq ft. It was inaugurated in March 2007.

Explaining the need for the incinerator, Gore said, "We had reserved 5,000 sq.ft land at the cemetery for incinerator. We have almost used up the remaining land for pet burials. So, there was a need for installing an incinerator to cremate the pet due to the paucity of burial space."

Dogs form a majority in types of pets buried in the cemetery. "A total of 1,850 pets have been buried there till now," said Gore.