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Govt. to revive watermills

Dehra Dun: Watermills are being revived by the Uttaranchal Government to help improve the living standards in villages. Initially, the Government would develop 11 model water mills as multi-purpose resource centres to enhance the living standards of rural communities as well as to reduce forest degradation, top officials of Uttaranchal Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA), the State Government's implementing agency for the project, said. In this regard, the Government has roped in Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a soft loan of Rs 1.125 crores (USD 250000) for this project. An agreement for this was recently signed here at the weekend with Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari expressing his optimism over the revival of watermills to boost the rural economy of the hilly State. After establishing model watermills, which are presently producing 2 to 5 kw of electricity, the government would upgrade them up to 9 kw level and give them the status of cottage industries. UREDA would also set up an association of watermillers in all the 13 districts of the State as well a State-level federation.

A move is also afoot to rope in NGOs, which have acquired proficiency in the revival of watermills in northern India. HESCO, a Dehra Dun-based NGO is presently engaged in reviving watermills in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Arunchal Pradesh. The Government would also provide special training to 100 para watermill technicians for operation and maintenance purposes. According A.K. Tyagi, Chief Project Officer of UREDA, there are 13,500 watermills in Uttaranchal, the survey for which was recently been completed. UREDA has till now imparted training to nearly 25 watermillers, Mr. Tyagi said. -- PTI

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Govt. to revive watermills

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