The Hindu : Cowdung polluting Yamuna

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 21, 2002

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Other States - New Delhi

Cowdung polluting Yamuna
By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI, FEB. 20. Alarmed over the fact that a substantial quantity of the cowdung is flushed into city drains, thereby adding to the Yamuna's pollution levels, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is giving serious thought to ways for disposal of over 21,000 tonnes of gobar generated here every month.

Having received feelers from some private parties for generating energy or manufacturing dung-cakes on a commercial basis, the civic body is learnt to have carried out an extensive zone-wise survey of dung being generated in the Capital.

Based on the presumption that a cow discharges five kg of dung per day on an average and a buffalo 15 kg, the MCD has concluded that at least 715 tonnes of dung is generated per day in the Capital. Of this, only 120 tonnes is by cows and rest by buffaloes.

``The survey has revealed about 20 per cent of the gobar is utilised by cattle owners and the rest is thrown into the drain. This is one of the major sources of river pollution,'' officials said.

Insiders in the MCD said the internal survey was completed early this month and, according to it, there are at least 63,000 heads of cattle including 23,000 cows and 40,000 buffaloes in the city. Of these 28,000 cattle, including 7,000 cows and about 21,000 buffaloes, are in authorised dairy colonies in Bhalswa and Jharoda in City Zone; Kakrola, Goela, Nangli Sharawati and Masoodpur in Najafgarh Zone; Madanpur Khadar in Central Zone, Gharoli in Shahdara South and Shahbad Daulatpur in Rohini.

However, a major source of concern for MCD officials is the more than 35,000 heads of cattle, including over 16,000 cows and nearly 19,000 buffaloes, are living in about 2,800 unauthorised dairies of the city, most of which are in the middle of a residential area and do not have any infrastructure.

As for cow dung generated per day, officials have calculated that it is about 360 tonnes in the unauthorised dairies and 350 tonnes in government-approved dairies. The Najafarh Zone, which accounts for over 250 tonnes, tops the list.

As for the cow dung being generated in unauthorised dairies, Rohini and Shahdara in East Delhi account for 50 per cent of the total illegal ``gobar'' of the Capital. ``As these are mostly in densely populated residential areas, cattle owners in these unauthorised dairies are not able to use the cow dung properly. At most, one-fifth of it is used for dung-cake and the rest is thrown into the nearby drain which ultimately flows into the river,'' reliable sources said.

Officials said such a huge quantity of cow dung can be used for constructive purposes. ``Dung-cake can be produced on a mass scale and be supplied to the rural areas in neighbouring States. It can also be used for generating energy by facilitating private parties to set up gobar-gas plants,'' they said.

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