Biogas is this G’nagar village’s lifeline

Vijaysinh Parmar TNN Jakhora/Chala (Gandhinagar): Nathubhai Patel, farmer in Chala village, 15 km from Gandhinagar, has a peaceful night’s sleep. He is not worried about how inflation is impacting cooking gas costs. Like 75 families — 50 per cent of residents — here, he uses biogas. Villagers have managed to tackle twin terrors of inflation and global warming by using this alternative source of energy. Besides, biogas slurry is used in farms as fertiliser, cutting costs there too. “For the last four years, I have not purchased a gas cylinder. Our four-member family’s needs are met by a three-cm biogas plant. We are able to cook meals twice a day and are self-reliant in this respect,” says Nathubhai. His daughter, Kiran, chips in with, “The kitchen has become smoke-free and chances of accidents are also less.” “I was spending between Rs 500 and Rs 600 a month to get a gas cylinder in the black market. It was a big amount for us. The biogas plant has freed us of this burden,” says another villager, Nathu Patel. Apart from saving on fertiliser, biogas slurry also prevents growth of weeds. As a bonus, these plants also promote education! Says Natubhai Patel, retired teacher in Jakhora village, “Apart from its positive impact on the environment, biogas plants in our village are helping children attend school. Earlier, many families were totally dep e n d e n t on wood for fuel. So, children usually would not be able to attend school in the afternoon as they went in search of timber.” At present, family-size biogas plants are given subsidy under National Biogas and Manure Management Programme of ministry of new and renewable energy, Govt of India. Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Ltd is implementing this scheme in the state. According to its sources, there are more than 150 villages in the state where 50 per cent of villagers uses biogas and have become self-reliant in cooking gas. During 2007-08, 8,301 biogas plants were installed in the state. Recently, an annual study of these plants found that 85 per cent of them are functioning.
Paltry subsidy
While Chief Minister Narendra Modi vociferously advocates biogas for villages, subsidy for family-size plants in the state hasn’t been increased since 1992-93. Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Ltd (GAIC), the nodal agency to implement biogas scheme, wrote to state department of agriculture and cooperation last month asking for a subsidy hike from the paltry sum of Rs 1,100 to Rs 2,400. The letter, a copy of which is with TOI, stated that cost of biogas plant construction has almost doubled to Rs 16,000. One of the results of this has been that targets for Scheduled Castes have not been achieved for many years. GAIC sources said Central government increased its subsidy to Rs 3,500 in 2004-05. The corporation has constructed 41,555 biogas plants between 2002 and 2007.