Bijapur leads Karnataka in bio-fuel revolution

District has outstripped state average in number of bio-fuel plants

Bijapur can be counted as one of the few districts in the country to have taken up the cultivation of bio-fuel plants in a big way.

Some 64.7 lakh saplings of bio-fuel plants have been planted on large tracts of barren and gomala land and along farmland ridges in the district. The district hopes that the initiative will reduce its dependence on petroleum.

The effort has been so succesful that the Karnataka State Bio-Fuel Development Board, set up to implement the Karnataka State Bio- Fuel Policy, has been marketing the Bijapur model across the State.

The Chairperson of the Board, Y B Ramakrishna, lauded the three-tier Panchayat Raj system in the district for the successful implementation of the policy.

While addressing a divisional-level workshop for Grama Panchayat presidents and Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) of Bidar, Gulbarga, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, and Bellary districts recently, he praised the combined efforts of the district administration, Non-Governmental Organisations and farmers for realising the importance of bio-fuel.

Under the Hasiru Honnu and Baradu Bangara schemes, the district has surpassed other districts in the State by planting the bio-fuel saplings — as against the State average of 43.64 lakh saplings, covering 29 districts.

Not far behind

The Karnataka Women’s University in Bijapur is not far behind in doing its bit towards conserving non-renewable energy sources.

It has set up a bio-fuel manufacture unit and is extracting bio-fuel from neem seeds on its campus. A demonstration model has also been established on the campus.

All the 199 Grama Panchayats in the district have been roped in to make bio-fuel policy a success.

Each Grama Panchayat, has set a target of cultivating 20,000 bio-fuel plants. The Board has also assured farmers that bio-fuel saplings would be sold at prescribed rates.