Shillong, August 23: In its march to create opportunities for livelihood to the rural population the Meghalaya State Rural Livelihood Society (MSRLS) is embarking upon a “Pine Needles Briquetting Project” to turn pine needles waste into economic resources fuel by briquetting and supplementing the income of villagers.
Briquetting is the process of converting low bulk density biomass into high density and energy concentrated fuel briquettes.
The MSRLS- a government registered society under the Community & Rural Development Department- will be implementing the National Rural Livelihoods Mission of the union government by undertaking this project soon. It has already conducted workshop on August 7 at the MSRLS office in Dhanketi which was attended by the village functionaries of Laitkroh C&RD block and Self Help Groups (SHGs) members.
For years pine needles in Meghalaya were wasted and were, in fact, a source of forest fires. Meghalaya has a high density of pine trees in Khasi and Jaintia hills and, therefore, plenty of pine needles are found throughout the Khasi and Jaintia hills districts. If harnessed properly the pine needles, instead of becoming a source of forest fire, can actually supplement the income of the villagers.
In Himachal Pradesh, pine needles are being converted into bio-fuel, which is providing additional income to the villagers. The forest department of Himachal has collaborated with Ambuja Cement Foundation, an ngos run by Ambuja Cement, and developed a mechanism to convert the needles into bio fuel. The cement plant uses this fuel for its operations.
Today in Himachal Pradesh 600 tonnes of pine needles are collected in a year by around 200 families fetching a neat Rs. 12.6 lakhs, the amount excludes the Rs. 11 lakh that the local transporters earns by transporting pine needles. It has boosted the rural economy of Himachal Pradesh.
Because of high concentration of pine needles in Meghalaya, the steps undertaken to convert pine needles to the bio-fuel and supplementing the rural economy is noteworthy. The MSRLS has tied up with Mawmluh Cheera Cement Limited (MCCL), who will buy the baled pine needles from the villagers and use them at the plant. In an attempt to disseminate this concept among the villages adjacent to the MCCL several meetings with the village heads have been conducted.
The Meghalaya industry department has devised baling machines which was demonstrated during the workshop. Five of these machines are ready for use by the villagers once the monsoon season ends and the baling process starts.- By Our Reporter
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