Tamil Nadu: PM Modi Lauds Kanjirangal Panchayat For Generating Power From Waste

Panchayat president said the project has helped them not just to scientifically deal with the garbage generated in the panchayat but also to save a significant percentage from its electricity bill.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (File Photo)

Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appreciated Kanjirangal panchayat in Sivaganga district in Tamil Nadu in his Mann Ki Baat programme for its efforts to use daily wastes to generate electricity. 

According to the Times of India, panchayat president KSM Manimuthu said that the project has helped them not just to scientifically deal with the garbage generated in the panchayat but also to save a significant percentage from its electricity bill. Pointing out that they have been paying around Rs 12 lakhs towards electricity bills annually, he said that the project would help them to reduce their electricity expenditure and it, in turn, could be used for other developmental activities in the panchayat. 

The report said that the plant was set up at a cost of Rs 65 lakh under the National Rurban Mission based on the instructions of Sivaganga district collector P Madhusudhan Reddy and it was inaugurated by the minister for rural development KR Periyakaruppan on August 10. 

Explaining how electricity is generated in the plant, Manimuthu, according to the report, said that the plant grinds the wastes and converts them into biogas which in turn is used to generate electricity. 

By processing about two tonnes of waste, the plant generates about 200 units of electricity and the generated power is used to power 20 street lights and six battery-operated vehicles, the report said, quoting him and added that they have been taking steps to power at least 200 street lights. 

Explaining that villagers have been segregating wastes into biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes, he said that they have been collecting about 70 to 80 kilograms of biodegradable wastes from the panchayat on a daily basis and this part, about 200 kilograms of waste is received from Sivaganga municipality and hotels situated in towns to generate power, according to the report.