Bharatlaxmi Stoves Save Lives in Village Nandal Village Nandal in Satara District, Maharasthra State, India, with more

than 500 households, has become a smoke free village. Every family in this village is now a proud owner of a Bharatlaxmi Stove, which is reducing their fuel consumption by 30% and smoke emissions by 80% as compared to their older traditional stoves. The women also report 30% reduction in cooking time, which is a bonus on top of the health benefits of reduced indoor air pollution. According to WHO, every year 500,000 women and children die prematurely in India due to various ailments arising from long term exposure to smoke in rural kitchens. The culprit is the traditional cook stove, rather than the fuel (mostly waste woody biomass), which is actually renewable and environment friendly. Thus, when a rural family switches from a traditional stove to an improved stove, it is as good as saving the lives of the women in that family. Cost of improved stoves is always the main barrier for effecting this shift, and therefore this is an area where even a small donation can make a large impact.

Smoke free Village Nandal has been possible through financial assistance of Cummins Diesel Foundation and technical know how of Appropriate Rural Technology Institute. The stoves have been supplied by Samuchit Enviro Tech Pvt Ltd. Each family has contributed just about INR 100 (approx USD 2.5) worth of materials for stove installation. The total cost for installing each life saving Bharatlaxmi Stove was not more than INR 700 (approx USD 15). The project will go on to create more smoke free homes in the vicinity, with installation of 500 more stoves in nearby villages. In the words of one of the ladies using the stove - Since I got this chulha, there is no smoke in the house. With my previous traditional chulha, I cant even describe how much my eyes used to water. Now I need only a handful of fuel sticks and the cooking is finished so fast! Earlier even if I cleaned the house every other day, in a short while again it looked dirty. Now I dont have to clean for 4-5 days, still it is fine. We are very grateful to Cummins for giving us this opportunity. Gifting an improved cookstove is an ideal activity for any corporate for

generating goodwill and initiating development activities in the rural community. A cook stove touches the life of the rural woman, and an improved cook stove that eases some of her hardships is greatly appreciated. The stove donors are given access right into the rural familys kitchen, and therefore right into the peoples hearts. Said Mr. R.D. Hanbar Deshmukh, Vice President, ARTI. This is the first big break we have got for Bharatlaxmi stove. It is heartening that the stove is not only appreciated by the users but that is has also passed the rigorous testing carried out by Cummins India team using six sigma principles. This is very satisfying for me personally as one of the inventors of this stove. Said Dr. Priyadarshini Karve, Project Co-ordinator, ARTI & Director, Samuchit Enviro Tech Pvt Ltd.

Concept of Appropriate Technology

Technology that is suitable to the social and economic conditions of the geographic area in which it is to be applied, usually involving skill or materials that are easily available in the local area. It is environmentally sound and promotes self-sufficiency on the part of those using it. Appropriate Technology is used to solve technological problems throughout the world, by providing sustainable solutions which are beneficial to the local community, and which are sensitive to the need to reduce environmental pollution, by using renewable sources of energy and recycling materials wherever possible. Sustainable solutions to technological problems are more likely to occur if local skills are used, thereby using the knowledge and experience which already exists, and which can be passed on through the community, and from generation to generation. Use of local resources also cuts down overall costs. The use of renewable energy sources is also encouraged. This can have significant positive benefits for the local and global environments. The use of renewable sources of energy, with the exception of sustainable supplies of wood, reduces the emission of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide emissions, which occur when oil and coal are burnt, increases the Greenhouse Effect .This reduction of the emission of sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides, by not using coal as the primary source of energy is also beneficial to both local and global environments. The use of Appropriate Technology should be economically viable on a long-term basis for the community, and provide suitable employment opportunities. The solution should be of positive benefit to the community and individuals, bringing a number of distinct advantages, such as an improvement in health and safety, education and training, regular employment and income for families. The solution should be consistent with the culture(s) of the local community. The use of high technology to solve a problem often involves the use of expensive components, which usually need to be imported. This normally requires specialist training, requiring additional costs and time. The need for a supply of spare parts, often expensive, also decreases the likelihood of a sustainable solution to the problem, by increasing the cost of the overall project.

In any one solution not all the benefits mentioned are possible, or occur with equal weighting. Yet the involvement of the local community, use of local resources and local skills is at the heart of successful application of Appropriate Technology. Examples: ATI is a non-government organization that works with mountain communities of Uttarakhand, offering them innovative alternatives to subsistence agriculture. Its broad mission is to assist village communities in the Western Himalayan eco-region to conserve their natural resources while utilizing non timber forest products (NTFPs) in a socially equitable, economically efficient and ecologically sustainable manner. The organization operates under the premise that attaining economic and managerial control over their natural resources will instinctively provide local communities the impetus to support longterm biodiversity conservation goals.

What is appropriate technology?

Appropriate technology is small-scale technology. It is simple enough that people can manage it directly and on a local level. Appropriate technology makes use of skills and technology that are available in a local community to supply basic human needs, such as gas and electricity, water, food, and waste disposal.

Appropriate technology is decentralized.

Today, many of our basic needs are handled by huge, complex systems. These systems are managed centrally by large private corporations or the government. For example, our electricity typically comes from utility companies that operate across many states. Similarly, many of the fruits and vegetables we consume come from large-scale agricultural corporations in California. In contrast, with appropriate technology the person who produces a service or a product also becomes the consumer - the person who uses it. This has several advantages: For one, consumerproducers are more likely to care more about their work. As a result, service and goods are more reliable and of higher quality. Secondly, centralized systems remust invest a lot of money to purchase large, complex machinery and to employ thousands of workers. Often these systems are disrupted due to breakdowns in the technology, problems getting needed supplies, or labor strikes. When this happens a great many people are affected. Breakdowns such as a power outage may also occur in communities that use small-scale, appropriate technology. But these local breakdowns are not nearly so difficult and time consuming to track down and repair as those that cover a broad geographic area. Thus, a simpler technology tends to be more reliable, and the effects of breakdowns do not disrupt so many lives.

Technologically sophisticated, though simple in design.

It is important to realize that use of appropriate technology does not mean turning the clock back to the 18th or 19th century. Although the technology involves simple, easy-to use and repair designs, it is based on sophisticated, 20th-century technologies. One example is the invention of photovoltaic, or solar cells that convert solar energy, a renewable energy source, into electricity for homes and businesses.

Environmentally friendly.
Appropriate technology emphasizes the use of renewable resources, like the energy from the sun, wind, or water. These energy sources are available almost everywhere and need only the right technology to capture them. Unlike burning coal and oil, these local energy sources do not contribute to air and water pollution and they do not need to be transported over long distances. Food, energy, water, and waste disposal are also handled locally by ecological systems. These are systems that conserve resources by recycling organic nutrients back into the soil and re-using manufactured goods in innovative ways. Thus, appropriate technology makes it possible to satisfy our basic human needs while minimizing our impact on the environment.

Social problems.
Many people are coming to realize that neither our economy nor our population can continue to grow forever. We are running out of the natural resources necessary to sustain ourselves. In addition we are limited in our ability to deal with the social and environmental problems that result from continuous growth. There seems to be a growing dissatisfaction with the complexity and hectic lifestyle of 20th-century society. Many people would prefer to return to a simpler way of life. Appropriate technology is attractive because it makes households and industries more self-sufficient, and most things can be managed at a local level. We may have to do more hand labor instead of depending on automation to satisfy our basic needs. However, there are many advantages to simplifying our lives. By growing more of our own food and producing and buying goods in our own communitites, we spend less time and money on transportation, produce less waste and consume fewer environmental resources. Appropriate technology is the kind of technology that fits small-scale, grassroots, community-centred economics: technology as if people mattered.