INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT OF WEAKER SECTION IN INDIA

POWER TO PEOPLE

Orissa the sprawling state on the east coast of India often baffles people. It is a place rich and replete with history and blessed by nature’s bounty. Can you miss the Jagannath temple to the Sun God at Puri? Or the beaches or the Chilka, the largest salt water lake in the country?

Unfortunately, in recent times, this fair land has seen more than it’s fair share of tragedies and calamities, be it the “super cyclone” that hit it a few years back or the “communal deaths” in the last few years. Orissa is a state which can both seduce you and repel you.

For a place, which has the worst starvation deaths in the entire country (as witnessed in the Kalahandi district), Orissa also boasts of perhaps the maximum number of NGOs, Government sponsored NGOs and Multilateral NGOs than any other state working on the development and environment sectors.

Putsil village: An inspiring case study of WIDA’s touted objective of People’s Participation in Their Own Development:

When twilight heralds the arrival of night, oil lamps and kerosene lanterns lend a ghostly glow to the villages in the Koraput district of Orissa. Women hurry to finish their chores before it gets too dark and the villagers retire for the night. Except in Putsil village of Semiliguda block where night life has become more vibrant and the dark doesn’t inspire fear: this village has got electricity thanks to a mini hydro power plant coordinated by WIDA, with funding from organizations abroad. But what makes the villagers most proud of their power plant is the fact that they built it with their own hands and there has been absolutely no displacement.

“The villagers saved about Rs.3 lakh in labour costs out of the total cost of Rs.13.5 lakhs. The mini hydro power plant is perhaps the best instance of participatory approach of people towards their own development.”

The village of Putsil with a population of 370 is located at an altitude of 1,150 mts above sea level. One has to traverse through steep mud roads which cuts harsh lines through the green, rugged hills, to get to Putsil. For the mini hydro project an already existing dam was modified to accommodate the new needs. It was decided that not even a single tree would be cut during the project and the power plant would be totally people friendly. Each villager in Putsil contributed in terms of labour.

The survey conducted showed that the two main activities for which power was required was lighting, milling and grinding. This amounted to a demand of 5640 W during the night and 3000 W during the day. The people themselves suggested that the scheme could provide battery charging facility for the neighboring villages. Provision had also to be made for increased electricity demand due to population growth. Taking these into account, the demand for power was worked out to be about 10 KW to 12 KW within eight years.

Water for the hydro plant was to be provided from the perennial Kodramb stream, a tributary of the Karandi river. The scheme was designed to operate with the lowest flow in the Kodramb stream to ensure year round power supply. It was found that the discharge in the stream was at the rate of 50 lts per second. But diversion of this water during the dry season could affect the irrigation of the paddy fields. Consultation with the villagers resulted in them agreeing to divert water to the power plant during night and continuing irrigation during the day.

The power plant was commissioned in August 1999. The power house stands about a km before Putsil and is operated by two trained villagers. Electricity is transmitted to the village via a one km long low voltage transmission line laid underground. The power house is operated for about three hours in the morning and for four hours in the evening with each house provided 60W of electricity. Currently the plant generates about 7KW of power but the capacity can be increased up to 13 KWs if the need rises.

As one enters the village of Putsil, the happiness and pride on the faces of the people is self evident. “Initially we had some doubts. But as the projects progressed and electricity finally came, our faith was restored. Now we are very happy”, said Masuru Santa, the village headman.

The main beneficiaries of electrification are the women. “Previously we had to go to Semiliguda to buy a litre of kerosene resulting in the waste of a day and kerosene is also getting dearer”, said Devdo Jani, women’s group leader. Another major benefit is the grinding mill which has taken a major burden off their shoulders. “We spend so many backbreaking hours grinding and pounding the rice and ragi. With this mill that has been eliminated”, added Devdo Jani. Women also find that a lot of work that they had to do at night can now be postponed to the evening since power is there. Children too can study in the evenings without straining themselves.

There are new signs of consumerism. Each house sports a radio or a tape recorder. The village community hall has got a brand new TV, a spanking dish antenna and hold your breath, even a computer. A couple of youth were trained in the use of computers. The TV, needless to say, is very popular in the Putsil village. “Though we speak the Kuvi dialect and not many understand Oriya, still everyone watches TV. “The cinema programmes are very interesting”, said a youth. The neighboring village too have benefited. One, they can make use of the grinding mill and two , they can get battery operated appliances charged at Putsil.

Nevertheless, a sum of Rs.20 per month per family was and continues to be collected towards the construction and maintenance of the power project.

The Putsil project threw up a few surprises too. The women of Putsil demanded that they provide them provision for electric heaters over the firewood stoves currently used. Inquiries by a puzzled WIDA threw up the fact that with electricity, the women could now see the smoke in the interior of their houses, which had no outlet since most houses have only an apology for a window. “Only now they realised how polluted their houses were. Providing electric heaters is not feasible.

About 10 acres of land have been earmarked on which the villagers will learn nursery management, raising of saplings for regeneration and planting of fruits trees. Already, with WIDA’s efforts, environmental awareness has caught on in Putsil. A case in point is the nearly 2000 acres of forests on the nearby hills that the villagers have protected. They do not allow anyone to cut trees or exploit the forests.

The village of Putsil is surely an example in how with local people’s participation alternative energy options can be considered for power. “Granted, this model cannot be replicated anywhere and everywhere. But such mini hydro projects can be considered in areas where it is feasible, without restoring to any traumatic displacement or environmental degradation”,and as for Putsil, the future only looks bright.

All Rights Reserved