On Sunday’s Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned an innovative initiative taken up by a vegetable market in Hyderabad’s Bowenpally. The market has set up a biogas plant that uses vegetable waste generated at the market into electricity and bio-fuel. The PM praised the market for producing 500 units of electricity and 30 kg of bio-fuel from the 10 tonnes of vegetable waste generated there every day. The technology and engineering used in this plant is developed indigenously in Hyderabad.
“It was nice to learn about how a local sabzi mandi in Hyderabad’s Bowenpally is functioning responsibly. We have observed that in sabzi mandis, due to multiple reasons, vegetables rot spreading unhygienic conditions. However, the Bowenpally Mandi decided that the leftover vegetables will not be allowed to rot. Traders at the mandi decided to produce electricity out of it,” PM Modi said in his speech.
The Prime Minister’s mention of the market is a shot in the arm for all those who have been working to make this project a reality. The authorities say they were elated to hear the PM appreciate their efforts.
“We felt really good that the PM has spoken about our efforts and appreciated us. This plant fits into the PM’s mission of ‘Vocal for Local’ as well as ‘Make in India’. We hope that the Prime Minister’s words will encourage more such plants to come up,” said Dr Sandeep Karajanagi, the biogas plant manager at the Bowenpally market.
Several loads of rotten vegetables and fruits that are brought in daily from various markets across the state are emptied at this plant. Around 10 tonnes of the waste is loaded onto a conveyor belt, which moves the waste into shredders. The shredded waste is emptied into a grinder. The ground waste is sent to tanks where it is converted into a slurry. This slurry is then emptied into large pits for anaerobic digestion. The organic waste is thus converted into biofuel, which in turn is converted into electricity.
Apart from helping eliminate waste sent to landfills, this project also reduces carbon dioxide emissions. The engineering, design and execution of this project was by Ahuja Engineering Services, a company based out of Hyderabad.
Speaking to TNM, Dr Sandeep who is also the R&D Head at Ahuja Engineering Services, explained, “Around 10 tonnes of market waste is converted by anaerobic digestion. The biogas produced is sent to kitchens to be used for cooking. Some biogas is used to generate electricity, which is used in the vegetable market. There is another by-product, which is a liquid organic fertiliser. We are now in talks with farmers to make use of this as well. Before this plant was set up, all this waste would have gone to a landfill.”
Throwing light on the expenses, Dr Sandeep said, “This is Telangana’s first plant of this scale. Around Rs 3.5 crore was spent on the project and we incur a monthly expense of Rs 1.5 lakh. Around 8 employees work here at the plant. Talks are presently happening to set up two more such plants in the state.”
Speaking about where the electricity generated is used, Ashish Kumar, a staff member at the plant explained, “Around 100 units of electricity is generated which provides enough power for the yard, the cold storage, the office and the plant. The biogas generated is also used for cooking.”
The plant started functioning six months ago on a trial basis while the bio-fuel production started a month ago.
The official pointed out that the electricity generated at the plant is used to power over 100 streetlights, 170 stalls, an administrative building and the water supply network.
Spread over 23 acres in Secunderabad Cantonment, the Bowenpally market works under the Telangana Agricultural Marketing Department and is one of the biggest markets in the state.
(With IANS inputs)
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