According to a UNEP study, the contribution of indoor air pollution is estimated to vary between 22 and 52%. The study warns that the emissions from household cooking and heating will need to be reduced to improve air quality. Unfortunately, rural India chokes on the hazardous fumes from traditional stoves daily.
The rural population in India still adheres to the biomass fuel like manure, wood, crops and garbage for cooking purposes. The usage of traditional stoves can endanger the lives of people as it can cause lung cancer, respiratory diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
But, every problem has a solution. This was proved by Mohan Nagar, a social activist, working with the Bharat Bharti Shiksha Samiti, NGO in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh and the students of IIT Bombay who have turned Bancha village an ideal village given the fact that food is cooked not on the stove but on induction cooktops using solar power. There are over 74 houses in the village and they are dependent on solar power for cooking their daily meals. IIT students working for Solar Urja Lamp project have made a special induction-like stove that runs on solar power.The Induction cooktops have been provided to all the houses in the area by the Central government.Guiding the project were Professor Chetan S. Solanki, the head of the programme, Department of Energy Science and Engineering and Associate Professor Jayendran Venkateswaran.
However, it wasn’t a simple task as their main challenge was to change people’s mindset towards the greener and cleaner transition. It is not easy to disrupt the habits and routine of the people. Sooner they understood that they don’t have to go to forests and spend time collecting woods for fire anymore and that Utensils and walls would not get blackened now. Food will also get cooked on time, the acceptance came naturally and it became easier.
As far as the features of the model are considered, it will work round the year except during the rain when the presence of the sun is minimal. It can cook three meals a day and has a power back up of two hours.
The stove weighs one kilo and indicates the status and usage of battery. It has three switches to change the degree of heat. Two villagers have been trained to maintain the stoves in case there is a problem.
It has been a little over six months since the installation and the results are satisfactory. There is no maintenance cost and through solar plates, the villagers are also able to get free electricity.
Here is what the villagers have to say about the implementation of solar stove:-
Harvind, a villager, said that they are now able to cook their food without hassles and it has also brought electricity to their homes.
“We can now cook our meals within half an hour and that too without the tension of smoke. We also don’t have to go anymore to the jungles for picking twigs and branches for the wooden stoves,” said Harvind.
Jamuna Bai, a lady from the village termed it as a big development which has changed the lives of children and women across the village.
“Earlier our eyes used to burn while cooking meals, it was due to all the smoke. Our children too had to be sent to jungles instead of schools but the situation has changed now. We all get time for ourselves and the kids can study now,” Jamuna Bai said.
The IIT-B team and Manohar are currently monitoring the entire project and will soon prepare an analytic report. The premier institute, along with ONGC, will soon replicate Bancha’s system in a village of Hoshangabad district.
The success story of Bancha is an eye opener which shows the potential of renewable energy. Not only will it help the nation economically but will also prove to work wonders for the environment if implemented across India.
