Hyderabad: The biogas plant established inside the Dr BR Ambedkar Vegetable Market Yard in Secunderabad, or the Bowenpally Vegetable Market, which has been producing energy using the vegetable waste generated in the market yard, has been lying defunct for the past few weeks.
The reason for the temporary break is that the contract of Ahuja Engineering Services Pvt Ltd (AES) expired last month, and tenders need to be called for to run it at its full potential again.
The biogas plant constructed in 2021, is based on the technology provided by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)- Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), and was funded by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India.
The objective of the project was to create a sustainable solution for the management of waste generated in the market yard, while reducing the costs on electricity and gas incurred by the market yard.
Over the years, 10 tonnes of waste generated by the market every day (the maximum) has been used to generate around 500 units of electricity and around 30 kg of biofuel per day, which was used to meet the energy needs of the market yard.
At one point, the total energy costs of the market yard, which were previously Rs 3 lakh per month, were cut in half due to the sustainable solution.
The biogas produced from the plant was being used to fuel the market’s canteen, whereas the energy produced was being used to operate two borewells, operate electric appliances in the market committee office, street lights, and lights in the stalls.
The utilisation of the energy depends on the quantity of waste generated and the amount of biofuel and electricity produced.
The biogas plant had also grabbed the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had showered praises on the sustainable effort during his Mann Ki Baat radio programme.
“We have observed that in sabzi mandis, vegetables rot due to multiple reasons, spreading unhygienic conditions. However, traders at Hyderabad’s Bowenpally Vegetable Market decided to produce electricity out of waste vegetables. This is the power of innovation,” Modi had remarked on April 9, 2023.
Guv visits Bowenpally market, asks to replicate Veg waste for power production
However, after the contracting agency’s contract ended last month, there has been a shortage of staff and resources to continue the work.
When Siasat.com visited the biogas plant on Wednesday, May 21, only a supervisor and another worker were engaged in operating the biogas plant. There was very little vegetable waste that was present inside the plant which was running.
Bill payment delays, contract expiry stall operations at
The supervisor, Balaraju, told Siasat.com that some of the workers who hailed from Bihar had gone home to attend a wedding, and the plant wasn’t running at its full capacity.
He added that delays in bill payments for over a year had led the contractor to refuse renewal of the contract. He said that if some contracting agency came forward, the plant would once again run at its full capacity.
He, however, noted that the amount of vegetable waste being generated was less during this season, as the stock entering the market was also less in quantity during the season.
Satyanarayana, in-charge of the market yard, informed Siasat.com that the decision to call for a tender for a new contract was pending with the head office (marketing department), and once the tenders are called for, the works will begin full scale.
He said that presently, due to the shortage of staff, the vegetable waste being generated in the market was being sent to the dump yard for the generation of energy there.
