Ghrat Fresh uses ancient technique – Water-powered flour mill

January 15, 2021 Innovation Valli Sarvani No comments

Old is gold. Nowadays, many people are preferring to use old and ancient methods. Most people believe in a few ancient methods for health.

Water-powered flour mills are one among them. Flour mills were powered by water in the Himalayan ranges, Uttaranchal in the past. They are known as gharats. These mills helped crushing raw grains to make fine atta. However, their usage has been reduced over the years due to the emergence of new technologies. Many flour mills are powered by electricity now.

As a result, many gharats were shut down and several people lost their livelihood. Some of the water channels were blocked or dried up. Some people had no option except to leave them, while some others had no money to make necessary repairs to divert water.

Noting this, this trio wants to revive gharats to supply fresh atta to people. Vikas Singla, Anuj Saini, and Nitin Sharma saw the potential in reviving water mills. They launched a startup, Ghrat Fresh.

They said that usage of water mills is one of the ancient methods used in India. It has been in use since the British era. The flour made at water mills is softer and healthier.

Thus, Ghrat Fresh aims to provide healthy atta to people across the country. Moreover, it aims to generate employment for many people.

Gharat works as mentioned below: A mill house is placed downstream of a river channel. Two stones, one above the other are kept inside the mill to grind the grains. A turbine is kept under the river to be powered by the fast-flowing river water. The moving turbine rotates the upper stone to crush the grains while the lower stone keeps it stable.

Currently, the startup revived five gharats in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. They produce atta, besan, cornflour, black wheat flour, garam masala, and chilli powder. They are receiving orders from many people through their Facebook and Instagram pages. While they offer free home delivery to people from Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchachuli, they charge for deliveries to other places.

Image Credit: Ghrat Fresh on Facebook