Biogas unit digests organic waste to fuel Kapali’s kitchen

A biogas plant and an electric-powered composter was recently installed to deal with the organic waste generated by the temple. However, the four Mada (main) streets surrounding the ancient temple which is synonymous with Mylapore, are dotted with vendors and visitors who generate piles of garbage. The residents of Mylapore have teamed up with the local authorities like the Greater Chennai Corporation and Chennai Traffic Police to ensure ‘litter-free’ and ‘vehicle-free’ Mada streets. K Viswanathan, Secretary, Mylapore Residents Welfare Association, said that the residents have approached the authorities and the MLA Dr R Nataraj who were in favour of the proposal. “The initiative started off by setting up a bio-gas plant and a composting facility to deal with the waste generated by the temple. There is a goshala (cowshed) inside the temple with around 3040 cows. The cow dung is collected and used to produce biogas every day, for the temple’s cooking requirements.

The composting facility will take care of the organic waste – like flowers and leaves, which will be turned into compost for the garden. The entire cost of the equipment and other expenses came up to Rs 25 lakh, which was sponsored by Mangaldeep’s Green Temple initiative. The equipment has been installed outside the temple premises and secured,” said Viswanathan.

The task of facilitating the smooth transition and technical expertise was delegated to Exnora Green Pammal (EGP). Mangalam Balasubramanian, President, EGP, said the biogas plant has a capacity of 12m3. “Around 150 kg of cow dung is fed into the biogas plant and an output of 12m3, is generated every day. There is also a balloon to store the excess gas, up to 5m3. We have connected the gas to flow through the pipeline into the temple kitchen, to enable three hours of cooking. As a safety, we have a complete set of booster to regulate gas flow, flame arrester, moisture trap and fire extinguisher. The organic composter, an automated electrically operated setup, can handle 250 kg of flower, leaves and other organic waste per day. This is reduced to 35% of its volume into organic compost for the gardens,” said Mangalam.

After the biogas and compost facility was inaugurated on January 19, the residents focussed their attention on the surrounding streets, strewed with dried garlands, plastic and other waste. “If we could manage the temple waste, why not the outer corridors and the Mada streets? We instantly formed a planning committee titled Kapaleecharam and have started interacting with local vendors, to create awareness,” added Viswanathan. The biggest challenge is to create awareness among the local vendors and flower sellers. “The shopkeepers and people litter on the street. There is open defecation in these four streets too. We want to address these problems. We are trying to create awareness among shopkeepers and street vendors by interacting personally with everyone. There will be two community organisers to achieve this goal and ensure that nobody litters on the road,” said Mangalam. The Mylapore Residents Welfare association members want to achieve all this within the next three months.

Dr R Nataraj, MLA, Mylapore, has been working along with the residents and technical teams to ensure this project is realised soon. 

Speaking to DTNext, the elected representative said, “We want the Mada streets to be clean so that we attract more visitors and offer a pleasant experience. That is the aim. There have been some improvements. Community participation has been high.” Outlining the steps that have been taken so far, Nataraj said that they are working closely with Ramky Enviro Engineers, contracted by the Greater Chennai Corporation to handle the solid waste generated in the city. 

“We will also be collaborating with the Corporation to implement the Street Vendors Act, so that only a few vendors will be allowed. To ensure that household and other waste doesn’t get piled up on the streets, we have Ramky’s team working in two shifts to tackle this,” he added. To ensure the ancient streets go ‘vehicle-free,’ Nataraj has already informed the Chennai City Traffic Police. “We are trying to work out a schedule where at least once a week, we can ensure that vehicles don’t enter these streets,” he concluded.