Construction site visit:
For the second field visit, the team visited the village by the name of Alua. The village is situated on an elevation. This elevation is due to an artificial hill made the by the residents, about 200 years ago, to prevent waterlogging during rains (which was a bit unacceptable for the team because the region was very dry!). The first thing the team saw was a coconut opener in front of a house. None of the team members had ever seen the device. The owner of the house demonstrated its functioning and it simply amazed us due to the simplicity of its design and its effectiveness. Besides this house there was a house being constructed. The newly made roofs were supported on cylindrical beams commonly called as ‘balli’. In case the beam was smaller than required its length was adjusted by attaching a small beam. The attachment was done by using two wooden planks and nailing them to the two beams. The team found this arrangement to be ineffective and unstable. As an improvement the team suggested a clamp like structure made of a sheet of metal which would join the two beams. It can be tightened with the help of nut and bolt. The structure would provide support on all the side, compared to the previous arrangement providing support only on two sides. Thus it was safer. One of the concerns raised during the presentation was that the metal could bend during use causing collapse. The solution given for this was to use a long pipe instead of a sheet which would have a better support and less risk of bending.
After that the team went to a farmer’s house. He had a mechanical thresher, a castor seed remover and a winnowing machine, which could be rotated using a handle turned using hands. He had some buffalo which had barcodes on their ears for identification. Moving on, the team decided to visit the Sabarmati River which was not very far from the site. The path to the bank was not an easy one!. The path was kuccha with very loose soil. From time to time trucks were coming against us, which were carrying sand for construction purpose. They throwing a lot of sand in the air, leading to difficulty in breathing. Finally we reached the river bank. The whole area looked like a plain with no water in sight. Algae were deposited on the ground where the river flows during monsoons. After roaming a bit the team returned to their bus and came back to Grambharti.
The winnowing machine
The thresher
Truck passing on our way to Sabarmati river
Solution proposed by the team for the beamsConstruction site:For the second field visit, the team visited the village by the name of Alua. The village is situated on an elevation. This elevation is due to an artificial hill made the by the residents, about 200 years ago, to prevent waterlogging during rains (which was a bit unacceptable for the team because the region was very dry!). The first thing the team saw was a coconut opener in front of a house. None of the team members had ever seen the device. The owner of the house demonstrated its functioning and it simply amazed us due to the simplicity of its design and its effectiveness. Besides this house there was a house being constructed. The newly made roofs were supported on cylindrical beams commonly called as ‘balli’. In case the beam was smaller than required its length was adjusted by attaching a small beam. The attachment was done by using two wooden planks and nailing them to the two beams. The team found this arrangement to be ineffective and unstable. As an improvement the team suggested a clamp like structure made of a sheet of metal which would join the two beams. It can be tightened with the help of nut and bolt. The structure would provide support on all the side, compared to the previous arrangement providing support only on two sides. Thus it was safer. One of the concerns raised during the presentation was that the metal could bend during use causing collapse. The solution given for this was to use a long pipe instead of a sheet which would have a better support and less risk of bending. After that the team went to a farmer’s house. He had a mechanical thresher, a castor seed remover and a winnowing machine, which could be rotated using a handle turned using hands. He had some buffalo which had barcodes on their ears for identification. Moving on, the team decided to visit the Sabarmati River which was not very far from the site. The path to the bank was not an easy one!. The path was kuccha with very loose soil. From time to time trucks were coming against us, which were carrying sand for construction purpose. They throwing a lot of sand in the air, leading to difficulty in breathing. Finally we reached the river bank. The whole area looked like a plain with no water in sight. Algae were deposited on the ground where the river flows during monsoons. After roaming a bit the team returned to their bus and came back to Grambharti.
The winnowing machineThe thresherTruck passing on our way to Sabarmati riverSolution proposed by the team for the beams