Thanks to 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act

Lot had been heard and read about energy efficiency and waste management. In the metropolitan city where I live, things are meticulously planned, literature vastly written and large funds allocated for avenues of energy efficiency. The irony is that the cities are where lots of words are spoken and little action is done. And it is here too, where there is a huge energy demand on one side and the dilemma of waste disposal on the other.

Recently, I visited a relative’s place in Idukki district of Kerala. Though the area was rural, the house possessed almost all modern amenities. In all, what was noteworthy was the way they managed the available resources around the household. Rain water harvesting, bio gas plant and kitchen garden enabled the right use of water, waste and land respectively. Mrs. Sulochana Chandran, the lady of the house as well as a Block Panchayat member, says that The Kitchen Waste bio gas plant being the recent installation, costs around INR 12000. The household shells out just Rs. 4500 and the rest is being financed by the Block Panchayat of Kattappana and the central scheme. The plant initially needs a few kilograms of cow dung and for the rest, kitchen waste would do. Though the  plant does not cater entirely to the needs of the five member family, it greatly supplements the energy source for cooking food.  Thanks to the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, The Kattappana Block Panchayat has done a commendable job of making  many households aware of these innovative ideas of energy saving and waste disposal. If this can be implemented in the cities, we can save a lot on fuel as well as on megawatts.