DNA/PUNE/14th Mar. ‘09: The Ghole Road ward office of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has set a fuel-saving example. A bio-gas plant, which runs on the waste collected from hotels and restaurants located on the Fergusson College (FC) and Jungli Maharaj (JM) roads, has been set up on its premises.

The biogas plant is used by the employees of the ward office to make tea that is served to the staff and visitors. Initiated by the ward medical officer Dr Sanjeev Wavare, the biogas plant also helps the staff save money. “We no longer pay for chai. Instead we make it here,” said a ward official.

Wavare said the biogas plant can treat 15 kg of waste everyday. “The staff of the ward office collects the waste (left over food, vegetables) from the hotels and restaurants and then puts it straightaway in the funnel of the plant,” he said. An equal quantity of water is then added to the waste. “The output of 15 kg of waste is around 250 gm of biogas, which is sufficient for a family of five to prepare tea, breakfast and lunch,” said Wavare.

There are around 275 hotels and restaurants located on the FC and JM roads. “These hotels generate around 16 tonnes of waste every day,” he said, adding that the ward office has now been propagating others to set up biogas plants and use this waste to generate gas. “This initiative at the ward office was aimed at treating the waste at source,” he said.

On a daily basis, the ward office collects around 80 to 90 kg of hotel waste and with addition of vermiculture to the waste, manure is produced in eight days.  The design and specification of the biogas plant has been approved by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai. “This is a small plant and the cost is just around Rs15,000,” he said.

After this successful venture, the ward office has also suggested the idea to city colleges. According to Wavare, the Shri Shivaji Preparatory Military School (SSPMS) has already set up a biogas plant with the help of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The cost of the one tonne capacity biogas plant is between Rs9 to Rs10 lakh, he said.

Similarly, the Symbiosis Institute on Senapati Bapat Road and Symbiosis Institute of Management at Vimannagar have set up biogas plants of one tonne each. The Dina Institute in Model Colony has set up a 50 kg biogas plant. “These institutes have large campuses and along with canteen/hotel wastes, they also generate biodegradable waste such as leaves and other waste material. This can produce quality manure,” he said.

A bio-gas plant of one tonne capacity can produce gas equivalent to nearly five domestic cylinders in a day. According to Wavare, there are around 37 biogas plants in the city.