The ash that pours out of Kota's thermal power plant every day used to be treated as pure waste, but it has now turned into the backbone of the city's brick-making trade. Truckloads of this ash are rolling into local kilns, where it is turned into bricks that are cheaper, sturdier and far friendlier to the environment, in the process putting thousands of people to work.
Less pollution, less hauling
Jaikishan Sarkar, a local resident involved in the trade, said that kilns earlier had to fire red bricks continuously, which brought heavy air pollution and intense heat to the surrounding areas. On top of that, sourcing red bricks meant depending on far-off places such as Lakheri or Kethun, which pushed up transportation costs considerably. The switch to bricks made by mixing thermal ash with cement has eased both problems at once, since the raw material is now available close by and does not need to be fired in a kiln at all.
Cheaper to buy, tougher to break
According to ordinary buyers, a traditional red brick costs about Rs 5 to Rs 5.50 a piece in the market, while a brick made from thermal ash goes for roughly Rs 3.50 to Rs 4 a piece. Homeowner Bhimraj Gurjar said he used these very bricks to build both his house and his shop. In his experience, the bricks hold up well in terms of strength and cut cleanly, they do not develop seepage or dampness, and they even save on plastering costs. Since an average house needs somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 bricks, that price gap of roughly Rs 1.50 per brick adds up to a real saving across an entire construction project.
Jobs for nearly 3,000 people, a changed landscape
A cluster of industries has come up right around the Kota thermal plant. Within a radius of just 1 to 2 kilometres, several brick kilns and modern machines have been set up in the surrounding villages, all of them running on this ash. The trade as a whole is now giving direct or indirect work to roughly 2,000 to 3,000 labourers and workers from the region. Ash that was once nothing more than a burden and a headache for the thermal power plant has, in effect, proven the old saying about turning trash into treasure.
