Water mills may appear to be a little arcane and outdated in the 21st century, but their usefulness in the rural areas, where modern amenities are yet to percolate through, cannot be underestimated. People have resorted to simplify time-consuming and monotonous household tasks through these mills for a long time. Not surprisingly, development agencies working to promote renewable and environmental-friendly energy have united to work for such indigenous technology. The Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the Rural Technology Centre (RTC) have been working in Nepal to introduce an improved water mill technology in the hinterlands. The RTC has even conducted a study on water mills. It revealed that most of the mills were located near major water sources but were either swamped out during monsoons or remained idle during dry season. The agencies working to promote the convenience of incorporating rural technology into daily lives of the mountain people in line with the concept of sustainable development have even succeeded in introducing savings and accounting packages for mill owners. Despite all these, water mills are now facing extinction.

Rural areas have everything to lose by ignoring the benefits of water mills. They have been the most reliable means of pounding as much as 60 kg rice a day and grinding as much cereals to flour, which otherwise is a lengthy chore for an individual. Furthermore, the improved version of the mill yields three kilowatt of electricity for free. Simplicity aside, water mills are a suitable source of clean and cheap energy. Because it operates even with small water current, the mills are easy and cheap to install, to ignore its benefit and wait in anticipation until the rural areas get connected to the main power grid — an uncertainty in large parts of the country — is a far-fetched approach by any means. Now that a majority of the 775 traditional water mill-owners in Makwanpur are barely surviving is a distressful development. The 2,200 mill owners in all, also need to be given a helping hand in sustaining their livelihoods. The government needs to provide all the assistance to modernise their mills through the ICIMOD-introduced improved technology. Loans and financing schemes at minimal or no interest could be provided to those on the verge of being forced out of business. Water mills aside, indigenous technology needs to be preserved. Rare as they might be, indigenous technology has always come in handy in the past. Unless modernisation reaches the grass roots, ignoring rural technology would certainly prove a major disadvantage for Nepal. The government needs to work with them to revive the water mills.