Kathmandu, May 3 : A 2-day workshop jointly organised by the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) and Centre for Rural Technology Nepal (CRTN) got underway here recently with the objectives of holding discussions on the present situation of the improved watermill (Ghatta), problems encountered in its application and the potential for further improvement in the future.
The number of conventional watermill in Nepal is estimated to be around 25,000 but improvement has been carried out on only 680 of them. By 1984, the technology of improved watermill was gaining ground in Nepal.
Regionwise, the central development region has 54 per cent of the improved watermill followed by mid-western region with 20 percent of it. While the eastern region and western region both have 9 per cent of it each, the far western development region has only 8 per cent.
It is seen that the application of the improved watermill technology based on rural means, resources and skill and operated by the local people themselves will have least adverse impact on environment and at the same time enhance local efficiency and generate more employment opportunities.
Not only that, power can also be generated from watermills and supplied to the rural households. It has been estimated that nearly 948 kilowatt of power has been generated from 632 improved watermills in 42 hilly districts of the Kingdom hitherto and nearly thirty-one thousand families have d erived benefit from it.
The improved watermills have been found to be more efficient than the conventional ones in terms of quality and quantity both. An improved watermill can generate power from 0.5 to 3 kilowatt and grind 5 to 15 pathis of grains in an hour.
At the workshop, GTZ director for Nepal Peter Rhode expressed happiness over the participation of th organisation in the extension of the improved watermills in Nepal and underlined the need for the concerned authorities to accord top priority in the wider application and operation of these.
CRTN executive director Ganesh Ram Shrestha said that if more improved watermills could be established in the country to generate power and meet the local requirements, it would have positive impact on the living standard of the rural folks.
Under secretary of the National Planning Commission Surendra Lal Shrestha presented a working paper on the policy concerning improvement of the watermill while Lumin Kumar Shrestha of CRTN made presentation on the current situation of watermills.
Likewise, director of Centre of Self-Dependence Ram Kumar Shrestha presented a case of Jumla district on water mill improvement activities and Gyanendra Bhandari presented a working paper concerning financing mechanism for watermill improvement. Attending the workshop are about 50 persons of various organisations concerned with improved watermill.