Champawat Traditions and Innovations

Champawat Traditions and Innovations

Revival of Gharats (Watermills)

Introduction

Champawat Traditions and Innovations : The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand has a long history of using watermills known as gharats for grinding grains and extracting oil from seeds. Gharats harness the power of flowing water from streams and rivers to turn a wheel that operates millstones for grinding or expellers for pressing oil.

For centuries, gharats were an integral part of agrarian village economies in the hills, providing an important supplementary livelihood option for farmers. However, with rapid modernization, arrival of electricity, and changing food habits, many traditional gharats fell into disuse and ruin over the past few decades.

Recognizing the heritage and sustainable living value of this traditional technology, efforts are now underway to revive the gharats of Uttarakhand. Organizations like the People’s Science Institute (PSI) based in Dehradun have helped set up new gharats as well as repair and restore old ones across the state. The revival of gharats provides clean energy access, reduces drudgery for women, and boosts local food security and livelihoods.

Significance of Gharats

Gharats are a time-tested example of how hill communities harnessed natural resources like flowing water and gravity to meet economic needs in a sustainable manner. At their peak, it is estimated there were over 50,000 gharats in Uttarakhand powering a vibrant local economy.

Some unique benefits provided by gharats:

• Clean Energy Access: Gharats provide energy access off-the-grid by using flowing water, eliminating the need for fossil fuels or biomass.
• Livelihood Generation: Milling grains and pressing oil using gharats supplements farm incomes and provides livelihoods to landless families.
• Food Security: By enabling processing of foodgrains grown in the hills, gharats boost nutrition security and access to healthy oils.
• Drudgery Reduction: Gharats eliminate the need for hand-pounding grains and pressing oil manually, reducing drudgery especially for women.
• Flood Protection: Gharats help moderate water flow in streams, acting as a buffer during flash floods.

Decline of Gharats

While gharats once played an indispensable role in the hill economy, their numbers declined rapidly from around 50,000 in the early 20th century to just a few hundred by the early 2000s.

Various socioeconomic changes contributed to this decline:

• Arrival of electricity: Electric mills replaced gharats for grinding grains faster. Similarly, mechanized expellers enabled larger-scale oil pressing.
• Reduced local food cultivation: With increasing migration and changing lifestyles, cultivation of traditional millets and oilseeds declined, eroding the base for gharats.
• Shift from watermill sites: New roads altered the hydrology of older gharat sites. Maintenance issues due to storms and floods also forced abandonment.
• Lack of economic incentives: Returns from operating gharats dropped as people switched over to refined wheat flour and cheaper oils from large-scale factories.

Revival Program

To prevent the loss of this heritage technology, several civil society groups initiated efforts to preserve and revive Uttarakhand’s gharats in the early 2000s with support from the Indian government’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

The People’s Science Institute (PSI) has been one of the pioneers in driving the renewal of gharats through its “Energy for Rural Livelihoods” program started in 2002. With technical expertise and community participation, PSI has:

• Repaired and upgraded over 300 defunct gharats
• Setup 100 new gharats in villages lacking milling facilities
• Trained over 1000 rural youth and farmers to build and operate gharats
• Facilitated access to credit, market linkages and livelihood opportunities around gharats

Impact of Gharat Revival

The gharat renewal program has delivered a range of positive social, economic and environmental outcomes in Uttarakhand’s hills:

Economic

• Enhanced livelihood options: On average annual net income from a gharat is Rs. 30,000, providing crucial supplementary earnings
• Local value addition: Gharats enable production of healthier cold-pressed mustard oil compared to refined oils
• Food and nutrition security: Availability of nutritious millets and unrefined edible oils around gharats improves local diet quality

Social

• Women empowerment: By reducing grinding and crushing workloads, gharats give women more time for other activities
• Access to modern energy services: Gharats deliver off-grid clean energy access comparable to electricity/diesel mills
• Skill development: The gharat repair and construction work has helped train rural youth in a green technology

Environmental

• Zero carbon footprint: Gharats eliminate greenhouse gas emissions associated with diesel gensets or biomass burning
• Reduced drudgery and forest dependence: By reducing fuelwood and fodder needs, gharats lower pressures on hill forests
• Flood moderation: Gharats help control water flow, reducing flood intensity downstream

Innovations in Gharat Models

While restoring traditional gharats, PSI has also pioneered some technology and process innovations to improve productivity, efficiency, reliability and sustainability. Notable innovations include:

1. Improved Waterwheel Design

• Increased paddle width and scientific alignment to harness water flow more effectively
• Counterweight balancing to reduce vibration and wear
• Use of bearings for smoother rotation

2. Composite Construction

• Combining traditional stone material with modern steel fabrication and concrete civil structures for greater durability

3. Process Improvements

• Multi-function gharats for integrated grain milling and oil pressing
• Improved hoppers, chutes and drum designs
• Solar PV for auxiliary uses like lighting which allows evening operation

4. Support Infrastructure

• Installation of intake tanks to moderate water flow to gharats
• Construction of channels and settling tanks to supply silt-free water
• Landscaping of gharat sites to prevent soil erosion

Sustainability and Replication

The success of Uttarakhand’s gharat renewal program holds valuable lessons for promoting wider adoption of this green technology.

With eight states in India’s Himalayan region sharing similar geographical and socio-economic contexts, the gharat model pioneered by PSI has tremendous replication potential to boost sustainability across the mountain states. Critical factors for scaling up gharats sustainably include:

• Undertaking scientific resource mapping to identify optimal sites based on topography, hydrology and community needs.
• Building local capacity by training youth and communities in construction, operation and maintenance.
• Facilitating access to credit, subsidies and markets to enhance livelihood viability.
• Fostering community ownership and inter-village partnerships for managing common infrastructure like channels and tanks.
• Documenting and disseminating vernacular knowledge on traditional practices alongside technology innovations.

Spiritual Eco Zone at Jageshwar Dham

Introduction

Champawat Traditions and Innovations : Jageshwar Dham located in the Almora district of Uttarakhand houses one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva in the ancient Jageshwar temple complex nestled in a beautiful Himalayan valley. Surrounded by thick deodar forests and crisscrossed by streams, Jageshwar is revered as a powerful center of spiritual energy.

The Jageshwar temple complex consists of over 100 large and small stone temples built between the 9th and 13th centuries during the reign of the Chand kings. Carved out of grey granite, the temples display exquisite architecture showcasing the splendid craftsmanship of the period.

Jageshwar is situated at an altitude of 1870 m in the Jataganga river valley near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Park. Its pristine environs and natural beauty make it an ideal site to develop as a Spiritual Eco Zone for low-impact tourism.

Need for a Spiritual Eco Zone

As an important tirtha in the Hindu ethos as well as a heritage site of great archaeological significance, Jageshwar attracts thousands of devotees and tourists every year.

However, growing visitor numbers are straining local environmental resources as well as impacting the spiritual ambience. Challenges arising from tourism pressure include:

Environmental Issues

• Solid waste and plastic pollution in the temple complex and nearby areas
• Noise and vehicular pollution disturbing wildlife
• Deforestation for hotels and parking lots eroding green cover

Community Impacts

• Commercialization eroding the sacred ambience and values
• Loss of traditional livelihoods due to land use changes
• Displacement of villagers to make way for hotels and amenities

Visitor Inconvenience

• Lack of proper infrastructure unable to meet needs during peak seasons leading to health risks and accidents

To address these issues, it is important to develop tourism facilities at Jageshwar in a carefully planned manner integrating spiritual and ecological principles. This forms the core idea behind establishing a Spiritual Eco Zone.

Concept of Spiritual Eco Zone

The Spiritual Eco Zone aims to develop tourism infrastructure and supporting facilities at Jageshwar to enable a safe, comfortable and fulfilling experience for visitors while minimizing environmental impacts and commercialization.

The Zone will adopt a decentralized cluster model of tourism development covering the core temple area and adjoining villages. The facilities and amenities will be designed to:

• Preserve the sacred ambience and heritage aesthetics
• Promote environmental conservation and sustainability
• Boost community participation and livelihoods

Key features of the proposed Spiritual Eco Zone:

1. Low-Impact Accommodation

Eco-friendly hotels, homestays and guest houses will be developed in traditional architectural styles using local materials and construction techniques as prescribed in bylaws.

2. Clean Energy

Solar energy will be harnessed extensively for lighting and heating applications across the Zone to minimize the carbon footprint.

3. Solid Waste Management

A decentralized waste collection and recycling system will be established covering the temple complex and all tourism units.

4. Sewage Treatment

Low-cost natural wastewater filtration systems like reed beds and constructed wetlands will be installed for all hotels and public facilities.

5. Organic Agriculture

Organic vegetable gardens and orchards will be developed in buffer areas to supply tourism units using composting and zero-budget natural farming techniques.

6. Nature Trails

Trekking trails, birdwatching lookouts and heritage walkways will be laid out inside forest areas and villages for controlled eco-tourism activities.

7. Cultural Promotion

Local fairs, festivals and artistic traditions will be showcased to visitors while reviving traditional livelihoods like handicrafts.

8. Community Partnerships

Participation of village committees will be made mandatory in site planning, infrastructure creation and tourism management decisions.

Implementation Framework

A layered institutional framework is proposed for coordinated planning and implementation of the Spiritual Eco Zone:

Apex Body

A Governing Council headed by the District Magistrate will have representatives from key government agencies like tourism, environment, rural development, revenue, etc. along with experts and community leaders.

The Council will formulate overall plans and policies for the Zone.

Technical Cell

A dedicated project cell staffed by professionals will be set up for conducting site surveys, feasibility studies, detailed project reports, architectural drawings, infrastructure tenders, technical monitoring and impact evaluations.

Community Institutions

Joint committees with membership of village pradhans, SHGs, youth groups, etc. will be formed at the cluster level to support infrastructure creation, run facilities, and assist in day-to-day site operations and tourism management.

Private Sector Partners

Investments will be invited from responsible tourism companies and hotel chains to set up accommodation and other facilities in designated zones as per the Eco Zone guidelines and bylaws.

Financial Arrangements

Capital investments for public amenities will be mobilized from government schemes like Swadesh Darshan while a Tourism Development Fund created from visitor fee contributions will support maintenance costs. Community and private sector partners will be encouraged to access finance from banks and impact investors to set up tourism facilities.

Conclusion to Champawat Traditions and Innovations

Champawat Traditions and Innovations : By integrating spiritual and ecological principles with tourism development, the proposed Spiritual Eco Zone aims to establish Jageshwar Dham as a model for sustainable management of religious heritage sites.

The Zone will preserve the sacred ambience and local environment while enabling visitors to experience the divine vibrations and natural beauty of Jageshwar in a fulfilling manner.

Champawat Traditions and Innovations : If successful, the Spiritual Eco Zone approach can be replicated across Uttarakhand in religious destinations like Badrinath, Hemkund Sahib, Madmaheshwar, etc. as well as heritage sites like the Valley of Flowers and Nanda Devi National Parks. Its environment-friendly and community-centric approach can show the path ahead for sustainable tourism development in the fragile Himalayan region.