Himalayan News Service

Baijapur (Banke), March 13:

Gobar or dung battery is gaining popularity as an alternative to expensive kerosene for lighting lamps in several parts of the country. The alternative comes cheap and easy to people as they just have to collect some used batteries, wire, switch and electric bulbs. Locals of eastern Banke across the Rapti River are replacing fuel oil by batteries already used in radio and torchlight and cattle dung. A fifth grader, Huma Shahi of Baijapur-1 said she was happy to do her homework in the white light of Gobar Batti as against the yellow one given out by kerosene lamps. Satya Narayan Yadav, a teacher at Saraswati Secondary School, said the new method is getting popular because anybody can make it work at nominal cost. He said that the Gobar Batti is specially popular among students. To make a Gobar Batti, one has to mix washing powder and dung in a tin can along with an used battery and then fix the ends of the wire to a bulb and the can. Neg Bahadur BK of Baijapur-1 said he had been using the technique for over a month, saving litres of kerosene. He said he is using kerosene only for cooking.

A general store owner Prem Raj Shrestha, with the arrival of the technology, the sale of torchlight bulb and wire had gone up. He said he was selling 8-10 bulbs and nine metres of wire adding even he was using the same technology to light his house. “It is really cost effective. My children built it one and a half months ago. This really saves kerosene”, said a native of Binauna VDC-2, Ram Kisan Chaudhary. Similarly, locals at another part of the country, Palpa are also reaping the benefit of this easy technology for replacing kerosene lamps. People said they were fed up of standing in queue to get few litres of kerosene. The new option has not only spared them of the long queues, but it is also saving a lot of money. Users say they don’t need a formal training for using it. Light can be generated by fixing of positive and negative wires.

Used batteries that could be seen discarded everywhere just a while back, have now

vanished. A battery can be fixed at the cost of Rs 25-30. “We get cheaper light in less than that of a litre of kerosene and that can go on for two months”, said Khadka Bahadur KC. Locals said four used batteries and dung can generate upto six volts of electricity. A housewife, Tika Bhattarai of Chherlung, Palpa said they have not been unduly worried due to shortage of kerosene because of the new technology. It has, she added, made the whole village glitter. Janak Dhungana, a businessman, Tansen said people in Village Development Committees without electricity including Palung Mainadi, Gandakot, Rampur, Chhahara, Deurali, Kyaha and Baughagumha in Palpa and people from Gulmi, Syangja and Arghakhanchi districts were buying materials to make Gobar Batti. In the last two months, he has sold 13,000 bulbs and the demand has been steadily increasing.