Solar heaters to rescue of remote villagers

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 12

Home-developed solar heaters, locally called ‘hamams’, have come as a boon to 663 households in remote villages of Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts and 89 households of Leh-Ladakh, thanks to Himalayan Research Group (HRG), a Shimla-based NGO.

The villagers can now have the luxury of hot water even in -30°C in the Kargil sector and snowbound areas in harsh winter months. These solar heaters have also come in handy for hill women, who used to bear the brunt of smoke from the hearth.

The solar heaters, if used throughout the year, can reduce five metric tonne of carbon emission in the hills. “We get hot water and can use the system for room heating as well. It has ended the drudgery and hazards of smoke as we can use water for cooking as well,” said Radha Devi from Nirmad.

“There are seven million households in Leh and Ladakh which still use fuelwood for water and space heating.” said Dr Lal Singh, director of the NGO.

The NGO will be honoured for its innovation by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur at a state-level Independence Day function in Indora in Kangra district.

“We will install 300 solar heaters in Rajgarh and Shimla rural villages in the next seven months” he added.

Talking about the innovation, Dr Lal Singh said a simple window glass, a pipe, a coil, local coal-paint and a simple wooden frame was required to fix the solar heater at the rooftop of a house. It costs Rs 10,000 per unit.

He said the innovative mountain solar water heating system was developed by the NGO under the core support programme of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

He added, “The solar water heating system’s coil holds 18 litre of water which is heated to 70-80°C within 30 to 45 minutes of solar illumination. It provided 100-120 litre per day, which was enough for a family of five, he added.

Innovation award for Shimla-based NGO 

Solar heaters have been developed by Himalayan Research Group (HRG), a Shimla-based NGO. It will be honoured for its cost-effective mountain solar water heating system innovation by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur at a state-level Independence Day function in Indora in Kangra district. The NGO plans to install 300 systems more in Rajgarh and Shimla rural villages in the next seven months.