Being creative in tough times

People of G-B have turned to a new method to crush grain - running a watermill with a tractor’s engine.

GILGIT: In view of prolonged power failures brought upon by large-scale flooding, people in a remote valley of Gilgit-Baltistan have turned to a new method to crush grain - running a watermill with a tractor’s engine. The watermill comes into motion as soon as the engine is started.

The machines are widely being used in Gupis, a valley of Ghizer district, to meet an increasing demand of grain by people who have been severely affected by the recent floods in the area.

Residents of Ghizer told The Express Tribune that joy ran across the entire valley after the activity proved successful. The practice has proven to be economical as well because the machine requires a small quantity of diesel to keep the engine running, while those wanting to have their grains crushed, too, are charged a small amount.

Residents say that the successful experiment has, for the time being, eased fears of starvation that was looming large due to shortage of essential food items in the region since last month. They said if power outages would continue, more unique inventions would follow.

Over 180 bridges, 340 villages and 950 roads have been damaged across G-B as a result of floods that inflicted a total loss of Rs10 billion. In addition, the government has said that 72,000 sq km of land has been affected. Chief Minister Mehdi Shah told the media on Monday that the damages were colossal and required huge efforts and financial support to repair.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2010.