JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY
CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH PROPOSAL FOR MPHIL.
NAME- TSERING DORJAY
APPLICATION NO. – 20081OO65553
Traditional Watermill (Gharat) as a Sustainable source of energy in
remote areas - A case study of Paddar Valley, J&K
INTRODUCTION
Traditional watermills as a source of mechanical power, primarily for grinding
purposes are in use in the Himalayan regions since ancient times, experts estimate
that in India the water-mill originated somewhere in the northeastern region of the
country around the 7th century AD. About 2.5 lakhs traditional wooden water mills
are still in use in the Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan regions of Ladakh,
Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states
of the country. Gharat,Ghata, Ranthak, Chuthak, Chakki, etc are the different local
names of these watermills. These traditional watermills thus play an important role
in the day to day functioning of life in these regions. In the last few decades due to
various socio, economic and environmental reasons the use of these watermills has
seen a large decline. Even the ones which are in use are not utilised to its full
capacity, some are in dire need of renovation and large number of them have been
abandoned. Traditional watermills with the help of modern technology have once
again come into importance as they can be now used to produce electricity. The
use of modern rotors and turbines have increased their effieciency manifold. The
yhave become source of electricity for the remote regions which are not connected
with the power grid. They have become micro multi purpose projecs as they can
now be used for grinding, agricultural processing as well as for elctricity
production. In the Era of Global warming and side effects from big hydel projects
the multipurpose use of Gharats assumes even more importance for sustainable
dvelopment in the remote and fragile himalays.
STUDY AREA
The study area Paddar valley is a Subdivision of Kishtwar District in the Union
Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. It is located in the north east of J&K sharing
border with the Zanskar region of the Union Territory of Ladakh and Pangi
subdivision of Chamba District in Himachal Pradesh valley. It comprises of two
tehsils namely Machail and Atholi. The valley is mainly drained by the Chenab
river and its various tributaries like Bhot Nallah, Kabban Nallah, Sansari Nallah
and Kijai Nallah. The study area is one of the most remotest valley of Jammu and
Kashmir. It falls in the Greater Himalayas. Paddar valley has various rivulets,
streams and small rivers which are dotted with hundreds of Gharats or Traditional
watermills, this area covers one of the most rugged terrain and some of the highest
peaks of the indian himalayas.The town of Gulabgarh is the Sub-district
headquarter of Paddar valley. Nearly 30% villages in paddar valley are still
unelectrified and nearly 50% lack road connectivity. The way of life is mostly
primitive and people still practice traditional methods of agriculture, housing,
clothing and food habits.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In the age of Industrial Revolution 4.0 and even after 75 years of indepencence,
there are regions in india which still lack basic facilities, like road, electricity and
connectivity etc, one such area is Paddar sub division of District Kishtwar, where
nearly 30% villages are without electricity, 50% villages without roads and nearly
50% without communication facilities. Such regions are still in hope that one day
these facilities will reach there. But rather than waiting for these facilities to come
from out side what if the local resources are put in use to create such facilities
locally, which can be sustainable as well as economically beneficial for the region.
The research tries to bring out the potential and benefits of energy decentralization.
LITERATURE REVIEW
P. C. Behari & A. K. Bhardwaj (2014) in their study mentions that the traditional
water mills have low output with primarily use of Grinding. The up gradation and
improvement of these watermills is an effective and sustainable way of meeting the
energy needs of a major section of the hilly people. Their study discusses the case
study of Standard water mills developed in order to cover the entire range of water
mills sites in Uttaranchal (Uttarakhand).
R.P. Saini & Arun Kumar (2007) According to them more appropriate and cost
effective technology is needed to meet the ever-increasing demand of electricity
along with mechanical power required for other task such as milling and expelling
etc. in remote and under developed hilly areas. In india micro hydro plants having
capacity upto 5 kW are considered as water mills and can meet the energy needs of
people in decentralized mode. They also discussed cost effective water mills for
multipurpose applications in remote areas. The technical aspects which may be
useful for local manufacturers to fabricate the efficient equipment locally and for
the developers to install.
Sunil K. Agarwal (2006) mentions that adequate efforts have not been made to
harness the water resources that originate in the Himalyan region in oredr to adress
the increased need for small scale energy for local use and sustainable livelihoods
among the population living in remote and inaccesible mountain areas. Most of
these areas are still without electricity, which plays a vital role in the development
of any society. There is a need to ensure that local communities can benefit from
energy just like people in the plains: they need to be empowered to tap and make
the best use of local water resources, based on traditional knowledge of techniques
to do this and improvement of time-tested technologies for better efficiency. This
will allow them to produce added value and enhance their livelihood options.
OBJECTIVES
To study the Spatio-temporal distribution of watermills in the study area and
factors resposible for their decline.
To study the combined electricity production potential of watermills in the study
area and apply it in the context of whole Chenab valley region.
To study the long term socio, economic and environmental benefits of starting
multipurpose watermills and hindrances faced by the region in starting such
projects.
METHODOLOGY
Primary sources –Village surveys will be undertaken and Questionnares will be
prepared and personal interview of village headman(numbardar), sarpanch as well
as common villagers will be undertaken for getting insights about the problems
being faced by them in running the gharats. Field research will be undertaken to
22assertain the environmental and technical factors which are responsible for
degradation or decline of watermills and futher to make sure how new technology
can be applied to the traditional watermills.
Secondary Sources -To gather information about the number of gharaths
functioning in the area data will be collected from the available sources in govt
offices and panchayat offices. Data about the Technical knowhow can be taken
from various technology based NGO’s working in this field. Once we have data
about the gharats, technical findings from other multipurpose Gharats can be
applied to gharats in the study area, which will help us in ascertaining the benefits
which can be accured from one Gharat in turn helping to find out the potential of
all gharats.
SIGNIFICANCE
The research tries to study the various aspects of life and problems faced by the
locals in running the traditional watermills in the study area. It will study the
various social, economic, and environmental challanges being faced by the people
dependent on the Gharats for their livelihood.. It will assess the role of modern
technology in reviving the ancient tradition in a sustainable way. The research will
try to study the feasibility of gharats for upgradation. It will study the various
social, environmental, governmental and technological hiccups which occurr in
upgrading the gharats in the region. It takes into account the affect of rural out
migration changing crop diversity and cropping patterns on the functioning of
gharats. The research will try to identify watermills which have the potential to be
developed into small scale multipurpose industry. The research which try to study
the long term benfits of introducing modern technology in Traditional watermills
and finding solutions to development locally. It can be a good example of thinking
Globally and Acting Locally. It will try to assess the role of Gharats in the
production of electricity in the local region itself in a sustainable way.
REFERENCES
Agarwal, S.K.(2006). Re-energizing Watermills for Multipurpose Use and
Improved Rural Livelihoods. Mountain Research and Development, 26(2), 104108/
Behari, P. C. & Bhardwaj (2014). A Case Study of Improved Watermill Using
Power Electronics Devices for Offgrid Power Generation. Research Journal of
Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology, 7(2), 417-423
Ghosh, A. (2008). Reinventing The Watermill In The Himalayas: The Gharat In
History, Tradition And Modern Development: Northern Book Centre (2008).
Leiro, A. E., Lentz, M. A., Paredes, L. D., Agrawal, A., & Garg, A. (2015).
Assessing Gharats of the Kamand Valley.
Saini, R. P., & Kumar, A. (2006). Development of Standard Water Mills in
Uttranchal. Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, Indian Institute of
Technology,Roorkee, Himalyan Small Hydropower Summit, Dehradun (2006).
Saini,R. P., & Kumar, A. (2007, October). Water Mills for Multipurpose
Applications. International Conference on Small Hydropower- Hydro Sri Lanka (
Vol.22, p.24).