Watermills have been used from time immemorial to grind grain into flour, but nobody, just nobody, ever thought of utilising these devices to generate power.

Since the mountains, especially, suffer from a chronic shortage of power, it has suddenly been realised that these watermills can be utilised, with a little investment, to produce much needed electricity. What's more, this would be an eco-friendly thing to do and help immensely in the overall development of the region.

A beginning has already been made. Dr Anil Joshi of the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO) is currently engaged in upgrading technologies for rural areas, particularly of theHimalayan region. He has been focusing especially on improving the traditional watermill, apart from organising watermill owners.

These age-old gadgets are still being used in the hills, which have always had plenty of waterfalls, for grinding wheat, rice, maize and other grain, and also to extract oil. However, in the absence of appropriate technology, watermills were never used for any other purposes apart from this, although the basic principle on which they run is the same as that of large hydroelectric projects. It's probably because these watermills were until now serving only rural communities that their potential remained hidden. Now the idea was to optimise this potential.

Joshi, along with his dedicated team of workers, set out to upgrade watermills with appropriate technology so that they can be used directly for power generation across the mountains from Jammu & Kashmir to the Northeast. But his task has literally been an uphill one. Most of the watermillers belong to the lowest rung of therural population in the most backward regions of the hills. The problem was to organise them.

Joshi first started touring the area and talking to them. That was how the Watermillers Association in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Garhwal and Kumaon first came about. The Delhi convention was just to signal to the rest of the country that such a body was in existence. It was attended by more than a hundred watermillers from all the hill states. At the convention, these watermillers decided to mount a crusade for the upgradation of their technology, as a necessary first step. They also demanded that a survey on the status of these watermills be immediately done and a special watermill board be formed to look into their specific problems.

According to Joshi, it is easy and fairly inexpensive to upgrade the five lakh-odd watermills that dot the entire Himalayan region. He believes that, once upgraded, they would help revolutionise the economy of the hills and the surplus power generated could be transmittedthrough small grids to regions that require them. Joshi calculates that 2,500 MW or 40 million units of electricity could be generated from these watermills -- which translates into something like Rs 1,200 million per hour. Since these gharats were a part of local technology, the necessary knowledge skills and infrastructure already exist locally. Big hydro-electric projects require massive investments and sometimes pose a serious danger to this fragile, earthquake prone region. In contrast, if the estimated five lakh watermills currently in operation could double as micro-hydroelectric projects, they would contribute immeasurably to the country's power generation.

In India, only an estimated 22 per cent of the total potential of 95,000 MW of power through water resources has been tapped so far. What's more, upgrading the gharats would also help in generating employment for the local youth, who pass out in great numbers every year from the local industrial training institutes and polytechnics and remainlargely unemployed. At least three people can be employed per watermill. According to rough estimates, about 20 million people could benefit either directly or indirectly from the upgradation of these watermills.

The Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) has already adopted Technology Intervention in Mountain Eco-system as one of its important thrust areas for the advancement of rural technology schemes. Under this, a few watermills have been upgraded and were even field tested. Today they are being promoted by CAPART in a few selected regions in the Himalayas.

But in order to give the necessary direction to these projects, the country needs to formulate an independent water policy for the region, which must also encompass issues like the upgradation and renovation of existing micro-hydroelectric projects. There has been a need for closer cooperation of all concerned departments and ministries like rural development, energy, water resources and forests & environment.Various state governments too should be brought into the picture. It is only in this way that the immense potential of this humble device can be fully exploited.

Lighting homes

Pushkar Singh has already shown the way to generate electricity from his watermill. It has traditionally been used for grinding purposes.

A resident of Khod village in Jhakholi block of Rudraprayag district of Garhwal Singh, by making an investment of only Rs 2,000, was able to generate five megawatts of electricity for his village.

Without any technical help from anyone, Pushkar Singh designed his own turbine and started generating electricity by putting his watermill into use. Today, all the 51 houses of his village are lit. Pushkar Singh has provided one bulb per household and charges Rs 10 per month for this facility.