• Source:JND

Amid the LPG supply shortage stemming from the conflict between Iran, Israel, and the US, many consumers have faced issues, with some waiting in long queues and others wandering the streets trying to find a cylinder. Meanwhile, residents in a village in Jabalpur remain unaffected by the issue, as nearly 75 per cent of households in the village use cow dung gas to run their stoves, not LPG.

In the Bargi assembly constituency’s Bandarkola village, an entirely different approach to cooking fuel puts any concern for LPG cylinders out of the picture. The biogas supply to the village on a continuous 24-hour basis will, in the long run, have a positive effect on the approximately 2,500 people living in the 400 homes there. Of those homes, 300 have biogas plants in their courtyards, so the women in those homes no longer have to rely on LPG.

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The biogas plants are allowing the women of Bandarkola to manage their cow dung better and work with free gas.

"The shortage of LPG has created a problem for many due to rising prices, but we are lucky we don't have this problem here," said Nita Patel of Bandarkola, a resident, who stated that biogas was easy, cheap, and would always be there for cooking food without the hassle of finding LPG gas.

Nita advises everyone to install biogas plants at home to help manage their cow dung while benefiting from free gas.

The biogas project started in Bandarkola village 13 years ago when Ajay Patel was the village Sarpanch (Head of the Village Council). He built the first biogas plant in 2013 in his yard, and the plant functioned very well because he milked a cow and had enough dung to create gas for cooking food. Ajay Patel's success with the biogas plant motivated others to develop similar plants.

How Does the Plant Work

  • The villagers dig a pit (about 3 meters deep) behind their homes and mix the cow dung with water
  • Add this mixture to the underground system, where it decomposes in an anaerobic environment (without oxygen), producing gases called biogas (methane). 
  • The gas is transported using pipes directly into the kitchen to be used as fuel when cooking. 
  • The remaining slurry can be used as fertiliser for crops.

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Biogas plants are now functional in the majority of dwelling units. According to Ajay Patel, once he installed his biogas plant, he has never bought any LPG gas cylinders again.

According to the villagers, some households that do not have animals (cows); therefore, had closed their biogas plants (the households affected had switched to using LPG). Because of recent shortages and increasing prices, many rural households are reopening their biogas plants, which has given them an added security regarding sustainability for their households.


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