Kilns adopt mustard husk to continue ops

Bijendra Ahlawat

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Faridabad, June 13

With the tough stand by the government regarding pollution norms and steep hike in coal prices, brick-kilns operating in the NCR here, have switched over to the usage of mustard crop husk as one of the major sources of energy, to ensure operation.

“Around 200 brick-kilns functional in Faridabad and Palwal districts fall under the purview of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), an agency of the Union Government, which has disallowed the usage of traditional energy sources like diesel, furnace oil, pet coke, rubber and plastic waste, in a notification issued in February this year, said an official of the local administration. Only those brick-kilns have been allowed to work which have switched over to the usage of clean energy sources such as piped gas (PNG), coal, wooden material and crop residue for the compliance of the CAQM directions,” said district officials. They further said the PNG had also been made mandatory for the new brickkilns in the NCR. Revealing that switching to PNG for the old kilns was impossible for most of the units as high cost was involved and they lacked infrastructure, said sources in the brick-kiln sector. They claim that they have started using mustard crop husk procured locally and from other parts of the state.

Pradeep Gupta, an office-bearer of the Brick-kilns’ Association, Faridabad, said switching over to husk was perhaps the only option left in the wake of the constraints imposed regarding traditional sources and this had resulted in numerous interruptions in work. Claiming that the procurement of husk was easy due to adequate production of mustard crop in the region, he said it was part of the biomass source allowed by the CAQM. A sharp hike in coal prices, a prominent source which has risen to Rs 26 per kg from Rs 11 in less than a year, has led to a spurt in cost of bricks. The price of a brick that was Rs 5 in 2020 has risen to Rs 6.20, it is reported.

It is claimed that switching over to husk and other measures has also led to improvement in air quality with SPM (suspended particulate matter) in the vicinity of the kilns going down to 250 from 750.