Solan(Himachal Pradesh): Local resident Omprakash in Kunihar area of Solan district is worried about his future as the watermill, traditionally called as gharat had been rendered redundant as people began preferring power mills for grinding grains. Gharats are on the verge of dying as the government and the administration does not pay heed to it.
''There was a time when people used to walk several kilometres to grind flour in the gharat but now this traditional source of energy is losing its ground. People are forgetting the nutritious flour obtained from gharat. At present, gharat owners have to sell the flour from door to door in order to feed their family. Earlier, there were around 60-70 gharats but now the noise of the gharats is somewhere lost in the speed of the modern hills'', said Omprakash.
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Owner of a Gharat Omprakash said,''The flow of the water is diverted to the gharat via kuhal (small canal) and put on the wings under the gharat mill. The fans start moving fast and that is how the mill of Gharat runs. He told that only 80 to 100 kg of flour can be ground according to the flow of water, because water flow goes out slowly in the mill.
In the past, there were no machines for grinding flour due to which people of the village discovered a special method for it. The villagers used to grind flour from Gharat run by a high flow of water but at present, only a few gharats are left. In most areas of the state, Gharats are taking their last breath.
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''Gharat flour is nutritious, delicious and healthy. Even today in the machine era, people like to eat flour ground in gharat'', said the local.
Only four gharats are operational in Delag village for nearly a century. Omprakash said that about a quintal of flour is ground throughout the day. Earlier people from Kunihar, Dumehar and Ramshahar also used to carry flour from the gharats of this region.
