Purna Guma micro hydro construction

Lots of work has happened at the site during the last 2 weeks. The finishing of the civil works is not great; we should have had better concreting supports. We will do better on the powerhouse.

Weir

Channel from weir to forebay tank (thru a very cool cave)

Forebay tank

Forebay tank

Channel to forebay tank

Powerhouse progress (plinth level)

Living Dream

Community driven micro hydro construction in Purna Guma village, Kalahandi, Orissa.



Within the Karlapat Sanctuary, Gram Vikas is starting its 3rd micro hydro project. Many valuable lessons were learned from its first 2 projects, in Amthagouda and Karlapat villages. Solutions to previous issues are being implemented in the 3rd project, in the village of Purna Guma.



I have spent most of my time at Gram Vikas (the last 2.5 years) trouble shooting existing projects. Therefore, a new project on a blank canvas is no doubt refreshing for me. But here's what makes Purna Guma unique:

1. Purna Guma is being implemented by the community alone with help from the villagers of the previous micro hydro system (7km away). Gram Vikas has learned that in the previous projects there was too much handholding, which now makes community driven management of system very difficult to facilitate. Letting the community drive the project is creating such an amazing dynamic. ...It's wonderful to see them think thru the various issues...without our help! Infact, they keep me on my toes.

2. Purna Guma is being support by several funding agencies, one of which is a student group at Columbia Unversity, Engineers Without Borders. The group gives me priceless energy to keep dealing with the field circumstances.

3. Despite the several castes in Purna Guma's 3 hamlets, the community has really come together for this project. Of course I know that their drive is simply the electricity (mainly lights); however thanks to Gram Vikas' mandate of 100% inclusion in every project, the circumstances don't give the community any other choice. ...Though I continue to sense that PG is more cohesive community than of the previous micro hydro projects.

4. There many other aspects...that i'll ramble off and on :).

Here are some photos...






Once PG decides to do a task, they really do it. Always, over 30 people show up or none at all. This is why the bulk of the civil structure were completed in the first 4 days!!





Leaders from Karlapat led the meeting the night before the construction started.


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Much earthwork was required to get the site ready.



I was worried that we would not have masons...one of the many examples of my worries being pointless. The community had arranged 2 masons without my knowing.





Vaishnav Babu from Karlapat is our man. I am hoping he can lead future ydro implementation in Kalahandi without the field help of Gram Vikas.




After the earthworks, rods, cement, chips, and sand had to be head loaded up the 200m slope...NO JOKE.



But at every opportunity, the guys never fail to produce a laugh.



One second day we started the rod binding of the channel.



Purna Guma is blessed with a cool cave, making it easy to route the channel to the forebay tank location.




....having the time of my life :-)





Start of forebay tank drama....the concreting was difficult without proper supports.

Myles Horton

Although I've spent most of my life in Mississippi, I never knew of Myles Horton and his role in the Labor and Civil Rights movements. Only now, while living in Orissa, did a new friend introduce me to Horton and the Highlander Institute. With the community-based micro hydro work that is consuming me now, Horton couldn't have come at a better time. The Universe is always right on time :-).

....The more I read about and by Horton, I am in awe. Check him out:

http://www.highlandercenter.org/a-timeline.asp

What do you think?

My grandma left her body a few days ago, on March 22. We think she was over 105 years old.

Since my first long visit to India in 2003, I have been drawn to documenting my paternal grandparents journey, focusing on the seeds they've planted. I think it is only due to their karmic deeds that our family came out poverty within 1 generation. My motivation to work with rural communities was triggered by understanding the situations my grandparents experienced in moving from a village to Ahmedabad and building enough capacity for the family to later migrate to the US. The next generation, their 6 children, are just as inspiring. (The youngest is my dad.)

My grandma's recent death re-triggers my urge to document a part of our family's journey...however I contemplate the purpose and medium for such a documentation. The main purpose would be to capture the journey in order for future generations of our family to know their roots. ...but then I think I cannot force anything down the minds of the future generations? Another purpose to document would be to exemplify many other families who had similar journeies after India's independence. ...but are there already such memoirs?

...When i look closer, the main motivation to document is actually only about me. I feel blessed to be born in this family...somehow i want capture the essence of it forever. ...the reason to do that is because at times i do not live up to that essence...and i guess highlighting it helps engrain it in my being. At times i question whether i put too much or not enough importance my family identity.

How have you dealt with your roots?

Like Father, Like Son

Chores are more than chores in these communities. They are part of a process of children coming to age, acknowledging nature, and mere survival.

Karlapat Alternator Woes

Two weeks ago the Karlapat system generator stopped producing voltage. I was hoping to resolve the issue at the village, not needing to transport the alternator to town.

We did various trouble shooting at the powerhouse, confirming the coils and AVR are OK. However, we couldn't open the compartment where the diode assembly sits.

We had to bring it Berhampur 300km away. Sure enough a part of the diode bridge had been burned.

Silly folks in Berhampur are not motivated to find the root cause, even the village technicians have come up with ideas. If you have ideas, i'd love to hear them.

fyi--the voltage has never gone beyond 420 volts and the max load has been 7 kW. The alternator has been running for 1 year, even though it was purchased 2 years ago. We've had to replace the AVR once since only 350 volts were being produced.

A new diode bridge is around Rs. 6000, just as a new AVR. ...System has not been running for 2weeks :-(



Burned lead.


See the 7pm location of the burned diode?

Surja Mukhi

They never face the I direction I want.




Yet, they are boldly beautiful...




...And useful! Surja Mukhi (sun flower) oil and the shells of the sunflower seeds are high in demand.




The shells of the seeds are so valuable that the local vendors send their own truck from town to the village to collect the seeds and return the oil to the village, all free of cost!





The challenge is how to compete with such vendors. Now that the village is electrified, how can the community re-pay a loan on an oil extracter if they don't charge the villagers for extracting? If they do charge, they can't compete with the vendors in town!

One way is to directly sell the shells of the seeds to the wholesale buyer and not charge for the extracting, just as the local vendor does. ...Though that buyers is several hours away and he only buys high quantities. Open to your ideas!