Imphal, Jun 17: Contrary to its logistic difficulties being tugged in one of the remotest part of the State, residents of Kodii village in Tamei sub-division of Tamenglong district have embraced an ancient but scientifically reliable means to ease daily chores by tapping hydro power.

Kodii village having a total household of about 35 families and located on the Manipur-Nagaland border is utilising flow of a stream to separate paddy husks in an eye catching method.

also known by its local name Kasalung, Kodii is about 200 kilometres away from the district headquarters and is a domain of Liangmei tribe.

Compared to the village's miniature size and population most families run their own rice mills from the current of the Khoitogan river that segregates settlement areas of the village, thereby eliminating any chances of noise or air pollution normally associated with use of fuel-fuelled machinery.

In Liangmei dialect use of hydro power to turn the rice mill wheels is called Taduipen, according to locals.

With the exception of the innovative design, tools/appliances used in machinery is very simple and locally available as only a small metal plate is fixed round the tip of an extended log that slams on a wooden dug-out in a constant vertical motion.

Water from the stream is usually diverted or drawn towards the rice mill hut either using pipes or splitbamboos before it is collected in a larger wooden dug-out connected to an extended apparatus after which the end of the apparatus on being emptied automatically pounds on another dug-out where the paddy is placed for de-husking.

not only has application of simple physics removed burden of the mainly hand to mouth villagers to a great extend, the villagers also have enough time to tend their fields during the day and return home with the rice ready to be cooked for a hot meal.

Even though the process consumes more time than the contemporary machines, the villagers are feeling elevated that their arduous lifestyle had undergone a radical change for the betterment due to use of energy-free appliances.

Being a close-knit community the villagers do harbour any grudge when neighbours use their paddy husking machines.

According to a Kodii village elder Khanguibou Liangmei (57) the home-made paddy husking appliances owned by most families normally produces about two tins of rice per day which is only reduced to a negligible amount when the flow of the stream dries up slightly during dry seasons.

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