Source: Canada Free Press
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/india062206.htm
On June 22, 2006 the Canada Free Press reported, "The [Zoroastrian] religion believes in proximity with nature. This can also be seen in the practice with respect to death and burial. The Parsi’s leave dead bodies in an open place located at a certain height, where they can be disposed of by the natural scavenger bird, the vulture. The principle behind this practice is quick disposal of the body. Parsi’s believe that this method is eco-friendly. The vulture being a decomposer bird, it eats up the whole body within no time, and this is considered to be a scientific method of disposal. The basic principle is to dedicate the dead body to the Sun, which is the supreme source of energy... However, the fast rate of urbanization has resulted in the construction of high rise buildings. The huge birds are unable to adjust themselves amidst the increasing human population and are leaving the urban areas... The community is making efforts to install solar panels as a replacement. The solar panel diffracts the sunrays on the body in equal quantity, which ultimately destroys the body. The biggest quality of the solar panel is that it tilts towards the sunrays automatically. It is now being used in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. This method is not totally flawless. The time it takes for disposal of the entire body can be as long as four days, and in rainy season it is very difficult to collect the sunrays. Alternatively, they are also trying to come up with storage batteries to store the sun energy, which can be used even at nighttime. This is still in the initial stage and would take some time to become fully operational. Plans are also in full swing to convert solar energy into electric energy and practice electric cremation."