The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Solar charkha: boon for handloom yarn spinners

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Solar charkha: boon for handloom yarn spinners

S. Harpal Singh

Reduces drudgery, produces better quality yarn

Solar charkha developed to run 8 spindles
Charger enables it to run for 2-5 hours in nights

— PHOTO: G. SANJEEV REDDY

HANDY: MGIRI representatives display the solar charkha in Adilabad.

ADILABAD: Developed by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Industrialisation (MGIRI), Wardha, Maharashtra, the ‘solar charka’ seems to be the answer to the many problems faced by handloom yarn spinners in rural India.

No conventional energy

The solar powered contraption envisages reduction of drudgery for the charkha operators and production of increased and better quality yarn compared to the hand spun variety besides doing away with dependence on conventional energy.

Decentralised

“The solar charkha can also be the tool for decentralised production of yarn, which is being seen as a solution to the problems of the yarn spinners and handloom weavers,” says P.V. Subba Rao, Project Officer, Andhra Pradesh Council of Science and Technology (APCOST).

The new development in yarn production that is still under trial was showcased at Adilabad’s Kala Ashram as part of the ongoing Sahyadri Kala Utsav.

“The spinning machine uses only 30 watts of energy for its two spindles and the energy consumed by a 10 spindle charkha is just 60 watts. The variation in consumption of energy could be plus or minus 10 watts depending upon the speed of the wheel,” reveals Hanumanth V. Lakhekar of the MGIRI.

Professor R.B. Chavan, formerly of IIT Delhi and Deep Vijay Varma, developed the solar charka to run 8 spindles. It has a charger that enables it to run for 2 to 5 hours even during the nights.

Mr. Lakhekar says no spinner will be affected greatly even when the alternate source of energy is not available during the 40 cloudy days every year on an average.

Human displacement

The new charkha does not displace human involvement as in the case of modern spinning mills.

“Only one person can operate ten spindles at a time, which increases the production without replacing human involvement,” points out the MGIRI representative.

“The solar powered device can use local cotton as raw material which cannot be done by larger and modern mills. Only cotton hybrids constitute the raw material for the spinning mills. The handloom weavers also stand to benefit as they can get the raw material, the hank yarn, directly from the spinner to use in making of handloom and khadi cloth,” adds Mr. Subba Rao.

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