Smoke-free solar cooker cooks up interest in this tiny hamlet

In the open-air kitchens of the tiny hamlet of Bense at Nagothane, a new gadget is changing the way women cook. Cooking with it is far easier on the eyes because it involves the smoke-free solar cooker.

To prepare a standard meal, rice, vegetables and dal are placed in a portable cooker which looks like a tiffin. The bottom most layer is filled with a substance call biomass coal and then kindled. The steam-cooked meal is ready to eat in a couple of hours. The whole process is kinder both on the wallet and the environment.

Around 100 families in Bense (Raigad district) and some neighbouring villages have been sold these solar cookers (popularly called Sarai cookers) at a subsidised rate of roughly Rs 600 as part of Reliance Petrochemical's corporate social responsibility outreach. The company has set up a biomass coal plant in the petrochemical township to convert dry grass, hay and leaves into biomass, an alternative source of energy to fuel the cooker.

While the cookers and green coal have been effective, company officials admit that what drove the project was the fear that the piles of leaf litter lying near the petrochemical plant could start a fire.

In 2007, the company procured a biomass plant from Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI) in Pune to tackle the issues of safety and energy conservation. S R Yadwadkar, president of Nago-thane Manufacturing Division, says, "It was about a change in attitude towards waste. Now, it is nothing less than wealth. In two seasons of the project, two tonnes of coal have been sold to ARTI and approximately 300 kg in the local market.''

The biomass plant's doors are open to any villager who volunteers to work. "We ask villagers to learn how to make the coal and in return we give them the whole day's production which is enough to last at least a few months,'' says Yadwadkar, adding that roughly 100 gm of coal is enough for a family of four. Villagers can purchase the 100 gm for Rs 1.50. But, not many have come forward. "A lot more awareness is required, they look down upon it,'' he says.

The cooker and biomass have also changed the social dynamics in the village. Now, wives simply leave the lunch to cook itself and send it off with their husbands who enjoy a hot meal in the fields. With more time on their hands, the women have organised themselves into a self-help group called Jarai Bachat Gat Group that educates villagers about making biomass coal.

"I love cooking now, it's clean and easy,'' says 33-year-old Shubhangi. Another woman, Surekha, says that earlier the wall facing the stove would be stained with soot and that she was always coughing. "There's hardly any effort required to cook now and we use the gas stove only to make tea. This way we end up saving hundreds of rupees,'' she says. Her 10-year-old son endorses this wordlessly by lapping up his share as soon as the steaming cooker is opened.

MUMBAI: The traffic police has started a sustained campaign against vehicles with tinted glasses, particularly in south and central Mumbai. Dr A B Road, Girgaum Chowpatty and Senapati Bapat Marg are some of the roads where cops have been regularly cracking down on errant vehicles.

"Every traffic division has one officer who has received special training in operating a machine which measures the transparency of tinted glass in percentage points. A team of two officers works in shifts,'' an official said. Ever since the drive started, the police have registered over a dozen cases daily at each chowky.

"If the transparency is below the mandatory mark, the vehicle owners have to cough up a fine of Rs 100. If they are unable to pay the fine, their licenses are confiscated and they are asked to change the glass in two days,'' the officer said.

According to the Central Motor Vehicles Rule, 1989, vehicles fitted with dark glasses or tinted glasses need to have 50% transparency on the side windows and 75% transparency on the front and rear windows.

Between January and April, the traffic police registered cases against 10,220 vehicles for having tinted glasses and collected Rs 7.14 lakh in fines.

Anil Thakker, chairman of the Traffic Committee, Western India Automobile Association (WIAA), said, "The rationale behind the rule is that the driver of the vehicle should be visible. Also, manufacturers of the glass are aware of the traffic rules and regulations. But if there are so many cases, then people may be adding more films to reduce the transparency. They should try to adhere to this rule.''

MUMBAI: Juhu Galli has been cleared of all encroachments and has been open to traffic for almost a month. The road connects Tipu Sultan Chowk and Lokhandwala Chowk.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority deputy director, projects, Dilip Kawathkar said the agency was now pressing ahead with two other missing road connectors; the first is at Asalpha along Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road, between Saki Naka and LBS Marg, and the second is north of Veera Desai Road, Shyam Nagar, along the main Link Road connecting Bandra and Dahisar.

"The opening of the Juhu Galli gives relief to motorists as the travel time between Tipu Sultan Chowk and Lokhandwala Chowk has been reduced from 45 minutes to about 5-10 minutes,'' Kawathkar said.

MMRDA officials managed to clear Juhu Galli after resettling about 700 families.

Kawathkar said the 650-metre-long and 37-metre-wide road was identified for improvement and widening by the municipal corporation four decades ago but work had been stalled as there were many structures, including cattlesheds, on the route.

MUMBAI: A slumdweller in Bandra may have exposed a racket run by no less than a corporator and has got the latter's employee trapped by the anti-corruption bureau.

The ACB on Saturday arrested Balaji Kinge (21), an employee of a Bandra corporator, while the former was accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from Ghaus Mohammad Shaikh of Bandra, who recently reconstructed his roadside dwelling.

The corporator's associate, Raju Kore, approached Shaikh and asked him to call the corporator. Shaikh called him up and the latter demanded a sum of Rs 10,000 if he did not want any trouble on the unauthorised construction. Shaikh said it was too much for him. Kore then called up Shaikh and brought down the amount to Rs 5,000.

Shaikh had recorded the phone conversations and approached the ACB. They laid a trap and arrested Kinge who came to take the bribe from Shaikh's home on Saturday morning.

MUMBAI: Chembur and Ghatkopar residents living in areas near Somaiya nullah are dreading this monsoon. They fear that haphazard and uncontrolled dumping of debris on mangroves abutting the nullah may lead to major water-logging in the region along the Ghatkopar-Man-khurd Link Road.

Residents have been noticing that a large patch of mangroves has been damaged because of dumping being carried out over the past few months. Those running from pillar to post over the issue are getting very little help from civic officials or the police whom they have approached time and again.

"About four to five months ago, we realised that truckloads of debris was being dumped on the mangrove patch close to the nullah. The dumping was being carried out throughout the day and night. We still don't know who is doing it,'' said Gargie Tripathi, resident of Prem Jyot Complex in Chembur. "We can see the site from our terrace and it is in a pathetic condition. It is sad that mangroves are being treated in this manner. Over the past few days, the dumping is taking place only at night,'' she added.

Environmentalists who visited the site after receiving a steady stream of complaints said that this sort of dumping clearly violates cleanliness bylaws. "The area is merely 150 m away from the Somaiya nullah. In addition, it falls in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and so the dumping violates the CRZ norms as well,'' said Rishi Aggarwal of the Mangrove Society of India (Mumbai chapter).

The residents are now awaiting satellite imagery reports to ascertain the extent of destruction. "There is always a modus operandi in such cases. Usually, a road is built along the stretch which facilitates the movement of trucks. This is done surreptitiously,'' added Aggarwal.

In fact, even in this case, residents `allege' a gate has been constructed. "It is obviously built to keep us from entering. But if the dumping continues in this manner, all the waste is likely to flow into the nullah during the monsoon and clog it. In addition, the nullah has not been cleaned satisfactorily either,'' said Tripathi.

Civic officials told TOI that they had received complaints and that they would "look into the matter.'' "We do not have enough security guards to man the place but we will make sure something is done,'' said an official from N Ward.

MUMBAI: A day after controversial NCP Lok Sabha MP Padamsinh Patil was remanded to CBI custody for his alleged involvement in the murder of his cousin Pawan Raje Nimbalkar, it was found that Padamsinh and his family members have 11 licensed weapons.

Lokbharti Party leader Kapil Patil obtained the information on the weapons owned by Padamsinh and his family members by invoking the provisions of the Right to Information Act. "We have been officially informed by the Osmanabad district administration that Padamsinh and his family have 11 weapons,'' Kapil said.

Kapil on Monday asked chief minister Ashok Chavan and home minister Jayant Patil to cancel the licences and also seize all the weapons in the possession of the Padamsinh Patil family. "He (Padamsinh) has full police protection. Under such circumstances, why does he need weapons. It should also be investigated how the Osmanabad district collector and superintendent of police granted such a large number of licences to a single family. Whether the weapons for self-protection or for other reasons needs to be known,'' Kapil said.

Information garnered by Kapil Patil reveals that, while there are four weapons-one revolver, one pistol and two rifles-in the name of Padamsinh Patil, the remaining weapons are in the names of his son Rana (who is presently a minister of state for information and public relations), his brother, brother's wife, nephew and his nephew's wife.

Of the 20 licences issued by the Osmanabad district administration recently, 11 have been issued in the name of Padamsinh and his family members. "I have submitted all the information to legislative council chairman Shivajirao Deshmukh,'' said Kapil Patil.

Meanwhile, there is a demand for a probe into lands purchased by Padamsinh and co-accused Satish Mandade and Mohan Shukla. "Our information is that the trio purchased nearly 3,000 acres of land near Alibaug. It should be investigated at a higher level,'' said a senior official.