Cow dung waste to wealth, Delhi youths' venture for sustainability

New Delhi, May 6

What do you do when you have 9,000 cows generating 1 lakh kgs of cow dung daily? Few enterprising youngsters of the city have found a way to not only generate wealth from it but also provide livelihood to several.

Coming into existence in 2017, the 'Arth' is a venture started by a bunch of IIT alumni with the help of ENACTUS, IIT Delhi. With four machines, they started turning cow dung at Shri Krishna Gaushala in north Delhi's Bawana into cow dung logs first and then diya, havan cups, rakhis and now, the team has filed a patent for cow dung clay.

On Friday, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala handed over yet another machine prepared by Rashtriya Godhan Mahasangh to them.

This cow dung log machine, 'Go Kasht', is used to manufacture cow dung-based fuel wood in long log-like shape. It has mixture of cow dung and cattle waste (like dried waste paddy). This log is then sun dried and can be later used a fuel wood in various situations.

It can produce 1,500 kg of cow dung-based logs that can be used as firewood for the cremation of five-seven bodies, saving roughly two trees in each cremation. "It needs woods from two fully grown trees to cremate a body. All those trees can be saved of people adopt such practices. It can also help the gaushala to clear roughly 150,000 to 170,000 kg of processed cow dung every month and earn through it," Rupala told mediapersons.

Hoping that more and more goshalas adopt such practices, the minister also promised Rashtriya Godhan Mahasangh to facilitate including such machines under Agriculture category to be enable for a subsidy.

Earning by goshalas (cow shelters) is important as most of the Gau Shalas have large number of non-milking cows.

And process of preparing mix for cow dung cakes provides solution to waste management problems, provide an additional source of employment to its employees or nearby villagers, and contribute in reducing deforestation.

"We have a tripartite arrangement with the Shri Krishna Goshala. It is a facility spread over 50 acres. We have trained people from the Goshala to use the machine, prepare logs and then leave it for sun drying. The products we sell to corporates," Arth's Ayush Sultania told IANS after the event, and added that the revenue is shared equally by themselves, goshala owner and workers.