Model Colony in Pune gets first bio-gas plant

From garbage to bio-gas and from bio-gas to power. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)'s first non-conventional energy project was commissioned at Model Colony on Friday afternoon, paving the way for a possible solution to one of the vexed problems of garbage disposal in the city.

Installed at a cost of Rs 48 lakh, the plant has capacity to process nearly five tonnes of garbage, i.e. all that is generated in the area per day and generate 250 to 300 bio-gas units, which would help generate electricity, enough to keep the street lights in the area glowing.

Senior BJP corporator from the area, Jyotsna Sardespande, who got the project implemented, said it would help the PMC save at least Rs five lakh per year. "You need 40 people and two hydraulic vans to clear the garbage in the area everyday. Moreover, the garbage has to be carried all the way to Urali Devachi entailing fuel costs,'' Sardeshpande said. But the new plant will need no more than four employees to monitor and execute the disposal process.

Apart from generating electricity, the system yields enough by-products from the garbage in the form of slurry to be used as fertilizer. This is part of the PMC's endeavor to decentralize disposal process of the nearly 1,200 tonnes of garbage generated in the city each day following strong resistance from villagers in Urali Devachi and Phursungi to allow any more dumping. Sakaal Times

2 more bio-gas plants to come up in other parts of Pune:

Director of Enprotech Solutions Company Sanjay Nandre has helped the civic body set up the plant. He said that the bio-methanisation technique developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre will be used at the plant.

"The company has already set up similar projects in other cities. All the plants are performing well and people living near the plants have not complained of any foul smell," he said.

Nadre said the power generated will be adequate to light up 30 streetlights for four to five hours everyday. "The company is also setting up two more projects in other parts of the city," he said, adding that they will run the plant for the initial five years before handing it over to the civic body. Read More: DNA

Subscribe for Free!

To receive free emails or free RSS feeds, please, subscribe to Ravi Karandeekar's Pune Real Estate Market News Blog

For my blogs on real estate projects near Hinjewadi, real estate investment, advertising and other related topics, please, visit and join my Ravi Karandeekar's Pune Real Estate Blog Group