It is mission partly accomplished for brothers Dr Ramnik and Dr Bharat Parekh, who announced the completion of Phase I of the ‘Antim Prasthan’ project on Thursday morning. The project, which started “as a dream in 2017” for the brothers, was to redevelop Worli crematorium, or the Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Crematorium which is located on E. Moses Road, opposite the Four Seasons Hotel. The redevelopment is being done under the umbrella of the Hiralal Parekh Parivar Charity Trust. The construction of the Rs 40 crore project began in August 2020. The redevelopment is in two phases.

Of the four cremation pavilions which are ready to offer wood pyres, one gas pyre and one hybrid (wood and gas) pyre are complete in this first phase. “We will open the wood pyre pavilions in June.  For the other two, we await gas supply unavailable yet, despite our best efforts. Phase II is a mirror image of Phase I, the prime difference will be that Phase II will house an administrative building. There are four more pyres and their pavilions in the second phase. The land required for Phase II is partly occupied by Mumbai Metro Rail work and if they do not vacate and hand over the land to the trust in time, phase II completion will be delayed,” said the Parekhs.