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| Preserving Jammu's heritage confined to papers only, age-old 'Gharats' on verge of extinction | | | 
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 14: Traditional water mills, popularly known as 'Gharats' in local parlance, were once found in nearly every village but they are now dying a slow death.
Today these mechanisms that use running water to grind wheat, rice and maize and also occassionally to extract oil, have been replaced by electricity run mills.
Although 'Gharats' are environment friendly and green but still their significance is on the vane as they are slowly and steadily have been forgotten in these modern times.
Water mills are getting extinct in almost every district of Jammu province and their place is being taken by electricity-run mills to grind grains.
Till a few years ago, every village had one or two water mills or 'Gharats' to grind the grains. But with the passage of time, most water mills have become defunct.
Rahul Dogra of Tikri village said the government should make efforts to revive water mills.
He said, “The quality of maize flour grounded in a Gharat has no match, it's just exceptional.The modern technology is the major cause of the extinction of water mills. However, many water mills are still functional in some areas."
The main reason behind the extinction of 'Gharats' is the availability of power mills. People now prefer to grind their grains in power mills. It saves their time and money.
Prabhat Singh, who runs a water mill in Jhajjar Nallah near Painthal village of Reasi district, said his 'Gharat' was established 65 years ago.
"Though people from nearby villages and towns still visit my Gharat to grind their grains but power mills had affected his business to a great extent. Most of the people now visit nearby villages to grind grains in power mills," said Singh.
Now, it is only the older generation who speaks about them; the younger lot do not even recall seeing any.
An elderly person Ved Prakash, who still prefers to visit a 'Gharat' to grind grains says, "No one has the time and patience for wheat or maize flour from a Gharat even though their quality is superior, have freshness and are much tastier and healthier particularly the maize flour from a Gharat is unmatchable." |
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