All lit up!

Monday, March 02, 2009

The tiny hamlet of Kudalgaon is a happier place today with solar lamps to light up their homes
The tiny hamlet of Kudalgaon in North Canara district is a beautiful village surrounded by lush greenery. Peopled by members of the Gouli community, the village has only about 30-40 huts along paddy fields.Though Kudalgaon has no road, electricity and drinking water facilities, it has a government primary school! Unfortunately, a big lock awaits you in the school.

The credit of discovering this tiny hamlet goes to Kriyasheela Geleyaru chairman and environmentalist Mukund Maigur of Dharwad. As a principal investigator appointed by the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), Maigur went around collecting data about traditional healers. Meanwhile, he spotted nati vaidya Govind Nagappa Hundre, a resident of Kudalgaon.During his stay in the village, Mr Maigur noticed that the womenfolk of the village used kerosene excessively. He organised the villagers in two groups - Sri Kalammadevi Self Help Group for women and Sri Handibadaganath Siddath Self Help Group for men. It was quite a challenge as the people of Kudalgaon were sceptical about his motives.

But, Mr Maigur managed to win their confidence.Soon he met Mr M Dhananjaya, chairman of Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) and Mr Ullas Gunaga, public relations officer of the bank, and explained the plight of the residents of Kudalgaon. Mr Gunaga wanted to visit Kudalgaon to check on the veracity of Maigur’s words but was not able to reach it.The bank immediately sanctioned about 25 Aishwarya solar mini lamps worth Rs 2,000 each. These solar mini lamps were designed by Dharmappa Bharki, who won the Green Oscar Award constituted by the London Royals.

On the specified day, under the leadership of Mukund Maigur, these solar lamps were distributed among the villagers free of cost.Community leader Govindappa Hundre's eyes swelled with tears of joy. He said in Marathi mixed Kannada, "Barter exchange is the only currency which is in circulation here among the 25 families. Whenever we require money we sell paddy to the rice polishing houses in Dandeli, Ramnagar and Ambikanagar. Occasionally we enjoy non-veg, but our staple food is rice and bamboo shoot.

Earlier we used to sleep at 7 in the evening, but now, because of solar lamps, we will be able to stay up till 9 or 10 in the night"As a token of their love and appreciation, the residents of Kudalgaon filled the bags of visitors with flowers, vegetables, wild fruits and bamboo shoot.Mr Maigur aptly said, "If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."

Kerosene, the killer fuel
Over two billion people burn kerosene - the killer fuel - just to meet their basic lighting needs. The ill-effects of kerosene are numerous: it is unhealthy, dangerous and expensive. The burning of kerosene causes air pollution that often results in prolonged illness and death. Nearly two million children are killed every year in developing countries due to acute respiratory infections. In India alone, 2.5 million people (3,50,000 of them are children) suffer severe burns each year, primarily due to hazardous lighting in their homes with kerosene lamps.It is ironical that kerosene, with such killer characteristics, is the only fuel for the poor. Kerosene is far more expensive than electric lighting. One lamp consumes about 72 litres of kerosene annually. Even with government subsidies, kerosene requires 10% to 25% of a villager's annual income.

This is not all: kerosene-based lighting in developing world is the source of 244 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere every year.
(Courtesy : Deccan Herald, Spectrum)

Harshavardhan Sheelavant
Asst. Professor
IMCR, Hubli