PUNE: The College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) will soon build an ‘Appropriate Technology’ centre in a bid to equip rural areas with modern technology. The CoEP, Melghat Support Group and Sampoorna Bamboo Kendra have adopted Melghat, a tribal village near Amravati in Maharashtra famous for its traditional occupation of growing bamboo and making bamboo products.
The college has undertaken this project in Melghat for next three years wherein students of undergraduate and post-graduate from all departments, primarily Civil Engineering, will be contributing in making designs and giving ideas on use of technology.
“The aim to develop an Appropriate technology centre is to empower villagers and their occupation.
For example, in terms of bamboo occupation, we will get raw material and manpower from the villages and help them with new techniques and technologies that can be used to develop more products of bamboo material. This will not only bridge the gap between rural and urban technology, it will also help in the social and economical development of the rural areas. Through this, we will try to reach out to as many rural areas as possible to make them technology friendly,” said Deputy Director of CoEP BN Choudhary.
Choudhary further added that students of National Service Scheme (NSS) will also visit the villages in Melghat to find ‘statement of challenges,’ which they will analyse and resolve.
INNOVATION - “Bamboo can be used for floor work, modular kitchens, home appliances and much more. This will reduce the demand of conventional construction material and energy consumption for manufacturing,” said professor of CoEP, Ishwar Sonar who has also completed his PhD in Bamboo studies. - “A bamboo’s quality can be examined with its width and thickness, which will be helpful in identifying whether it is suitable for certain products. Therefore, our students will help in providing them various new methods and technologies in using different kinds of bamboos,” added Sonar.