Masangum
Jalukie | September 19
Barely three months after the Nagaland Bamboo Mission (IT) opened a bamboo charcoal kiln in Jalukie Students Union Reserve forest, in Jalukie, the first bamboo charcoal prepared from this forest is about to go out. It is even expected some industries in Arunachal Pradesh are interested to do business because of its great and high quality.
Visiting Nagaland Bamboo Mission (NBM-IT) Peren district in-charge, Pausam Lungalung, who visited a kiln at the said reserve forest today, commented that the charcoal produced from the district is ‘the best in quality’. The kilns are being maintained and operated by the Jalukie Students’ Union (JSU).
Lungalang said that the district has already supplied fifty to sixty tonnes from the area, as compared to other districts. The visiting NBM-IT official’s purpose in visiting the kiln was to check the quality of the charcoal. He expressed optimism that the charcoal from this students’ reserve forest would be at par with charcoal being produced in other kilns in the district.
“The charcoal that is found in Peren district is highly demanded in Arunachal Pradesh for industrial purposes” said Lungalung, “Industries in Arunachal Pradesh needs around 200-300 metric tonnes of bamboo charcoal daily.” Lungalung said that the main industries that uses this bamboo charcoal is iron and steel, because of the high thermal value of charcoal which can generate heat up to 2000 centigrade.
The bamboo charcoal being produced here by the JSU would be transported to Nagaland Bamboo Research Centre (NBRC) at Dimapur at Rs 3 per kilogram. The JSU has also found a good source of income for its fund from their reserve forest which measures about four kilometers in length.
Earlier, the union charged Rs 5 per bamboo pole from the general public who cut the bamboos for their use. But now, with one bamboo pole expecting to produce three to four kilograms of charcoals, the income of the union is expected to be more than that of the past. The bamboo charcoal kilns have also come as a source of employment for some unemployed youths; at present the kilns are employing seven workers. This is the sixth charcoal-producing centre in the district of Peren which has been initiated by the NBM-IT.
Dispelling fears of deforestation from the bamboo cultivation, Lungalang said that once the bamboo resources are exhausted, it would be replenished with bamboo saplings which would be supplied from the bamboo nursery at the NRBC Dimapur. “This will be a cyclic process where we cut off the bamboos and at the same time carry on plantation of the bamboos so that it will go on and on,” said Lungalung.
An entrepreneur, Sunep Jamir, who also visited the site with the NBA-IT said that he will be a buyer of the charcoals from the district. It may be mentioned that bamboo charcoal is fast gaining importance in Nagaland, after the Nagaland. Bamboo Mission officials said that bamboo charcoals sold out ‘like hot cakes in Kohima, last year.
An official said that bamboo charcoal would very soon take over the common wood charcoal since it is eco-friendly and produces more heat. Besides heating, bamboo charcoals are used as disinfectants in toilets as it absorbs the stench. In China, people use bamboo charcoal as a pillow, since it is believed that sleeping on a pillow made of the product helps the blood circulation in the body.
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