Savar’s Swanirvor Dhamsona UP sets unique example

Lovely Begum of Nolam Borotek area under Swanirvor Dhamsona Union Parishad in Savar, used to cook meals for her five-member family in a traditional stove fueled by firewood.

"Tears and difficulty to breathe were inevitable while cooking in the traditional stove due to profuse smoke emanated by it," she said.

But those days are gone, now she happily cooks in biogas stove installed free of cost by the union parishad. Unlike the traditional woodfired stoves, the biogas stove is smoke-free.

The initiative taken by Saiful Islam, the chairman of Swanirvor Dhamsona Union Parishad, to provide biogas plants among the poor farmers who rear cows and cultivate vegetables and crops, has changed the lifestyle of at least six housewives like Lovely Begum.

Under the Local Governance Support Project-3 (LGSP-3), the Union Parishad has already installed biogas plants at the houses of at least six farmers in two phases. In the first phase, the UP built three biogas plants with an expenditure of Tk 1.5 lakh and in the second phase, the rest of three such plants were built at the cost of Tk 1.8 lakh.

During a recent visit to Lovely Begum's house, this correspondent found that she was cooking rice at her kitchen with a biogas stove.

With a smile on her face, Lovely, wife of farmer Joynal Abedin, said, "We have been rearing three cows at our house for a long time but cow dung was of no use. Now, we can use cow dung in the biogas plant and the gas is being used for cooking meals and the manure is also being used as fertilizer on our farmland".

"The biogas plant has been very beneficial for us and it has improved the quality of our life," she added.

Amir Uddin, another farmer of the same area who was given the biogas plant, said that he has cultivated several species of vegetables on his 30 decimals of farmland this year using the residue of the biogas plant.

"I am expecting a good yield of vegetables this year and hopefully will be able to sell after meeting the demand of the family," he added.

Hafiz Uddin, another resident of the same area, said setting up biogas plants free of cost is a good initiative of the Union Parishad.

It will be good if more biogas plants are provided among other farmers, he also said

Saiful Islam, chairman of Swanirvor Dhamsona Union Parishad, said "Although our area is an industrial one, there are many poor farmers. To improve the living standards of the poor farmers, initiatives have been taken to provide them with biogas plants as they can reduce the cost of cooking and the dependence on chemical fertilizers in the farming."

In the first two phases, a total of six farmers have been given biogas plants and now many more farmers are wanting to have a biogas plat at their houses, Saiful Islam added.

"As far as I know, this is the first time a Union Parishad has provided biogas plants among marginal farmers. I hope every union should replicate the project to improve the living standard of the farmers," UP Chairman Saiful Islam also said.