KOCHI: Though it may sound new, making paper out of elephant dung has been in practice for some time, with many firms across the globe already making paper and other value added products from elephant excreta. The state Forest Department too tried a hand at this, but did not achieve the desired result. Now, it has come up with the idea of starting a full-fledged paper manufacturing unit at the proposed elephant rehabilitation centre at Kottoor in Thiruvananthapuram using the animal’s waste. If it materialises, the centre will be the first such full-fledged paper manufacturing unit in the state controlled by the Forest Department. The cost of the project which comes to around `105 crore, will be mobilised by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board, said officers.
“The department has entrusted the Habitat Technology Group and RTF Infra Pvt Ltd, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram, with the task of conducting a detailed feasibility study and preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for the state-of-the-art elephant rehabilitation centre. Manufacturing paper from elephant dung with zero waste at the centre is one of the major initiatives chalked out by the department as part of the rehab project,” said Y M Shajikumar, wildlife warden, Thiruvananthapuram.
At present, there are 17 elephants in Kottoor camp. Once the rehab centre is developed with modern amenities, wild elephants caught by the department from different forest fringe areas and languishing in elephant kraals in the state will be brought to there. The centre will have the facility to accommodate 40 elephants.
“In this backdrop, treating elephant dung at the centre will be a big challenge for the department. Taking note of this, the commercially-viable project has been mooted,” Shajikumar said. A few years ago, the department had opened a similar unit at Konni in Pathanamthitta. But the unit was not doing well as authorities were making only file boards from elephant dung. Even then, only 25 per cent of the dung was being used while the rest 75 per cent were other ingredients. “Though the department set up a similar unit at Konni, it was not working for some time due to various reasons. Now renovation is going on at the unit and it will be operational soon in a new building,” said S G Maheshkumar, DFO, Konni.
“The unit was not making paper out of elephant waste as the machine was old. Since only 25 per cent of the elephant dung was being used, the remaining excreta getting accumulated at the camp was being processed using the age-old method of burying. The unit never achieved break-even point. If the new initiative is set up with the support of latest technological interventions, it can bring about a change in the sector. It can also be a scientific way of treating the rising amount of elephant dung getting accumulated at elephant camps,” he said.
Museum and vet clinic
Besides the paper manufacturing unit, the new rehab centre envisages an elephant museum, veterinary clinic, tourist facilitation centre, mahout quarters, visitors interpretation centre and other facilities for elephants including specialised treatment facilities.