Minister hands over machine to IIT Delhi for making cow dung logs for cremations

NEW DELHI: Union minister for animal husbandry, fisheries and dairying, Parshottam Rupala, handed over a cow dung log machine "Go Kasht" to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi's Project Arth that aims to replace wood with modified cow dung logs for conducting the Hindu practice of cremations in India.

Today, handed over a Machine namely, Gaukasht Machine to the Students of Enactus IIT Delhi on behalf Rashtriya Gausangh Mahasangh.

The ministry is going to encourage such endeavours in innovation, in order to make Gaushalas sustainable. pic.twitter.com/jC6wIMCMWH

— Parshottam Rupala (@PRupala) May 6, 2022

IIT Delhi's Project Arth and ENACTUS have taken up an initiative to redefine the rituals of cremations by providing an alternative to wood logs that has religious alignment and does not generate comparable emissions on burning. "The machine can process 3,000 kg of cow dung every day to produce 1,500 kg of cow dung-based logs that can be used as firewood for the cremation of 5-7 bodies, saving roughly two trees in each cremation," an official statement said.

This can help a gaushala to clear roughly 1,50,000 kg to 1,70,000 kg of cow dung every month, it said. The minister for animal husbandry, fisheries and dairying Rupala handed over the cow-dung log machine to the students of Project Arth, it added.

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According to the ministry, the use of cow dung-based log machines can help gaushala to cater to their waste management problems, provide an additional source of employment to their employees or nearby villagers, and contribute to reducing deforestation. It also helps in engaging the non-milking cows in an economic activity and generating funds to support all the cows in a gaushala, it added. In India, around 50 million trees are cut every year to supply wood logs as fuel for traditional Hindu cremations, according to the website of Project Arth.

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