The village Jharandi in Nagri block of Dhamtari district looks like any other village in Chhattisgarh. The village has concrete streets and blessed with electricity which is erratic at times. A few elders can be seen resting in the village community center where walls are painted with every minor details about the village-the number of steams, check dams, the map of community forest area, the names of the gram sabhas, members and village forest rights committee. Almost three hundred meters away a few villagers can be seen planting trees on a barren patch of land. All these glimpses project the picture of a village which has a sense of owner- ship as far as the protection and conservation of its natural resources are concerned.

But what makes the sight even more curious is a woman cooking on what the villagers call a Saral or Unnat Chullah ( biomass stove) which looks a bit different from the traditional earthen stoves. There is a chimney attached to it which absorbs the smoke and leaves it above the roof of the house. It has an iron structure which is plastered with a thick layer of clay. The woman says it consumes 30 percent less woods as it generates more heat.

"The less use of woods means less burden on the forests", said one of the villagers. According to him, this is pilot project which is going on in four villages. The other three villages are-Pathri, Daudpandripani and Badegobra of Gariyaband District. So far 250 households have adopted the Unnat Chllaha. These stoves which cost Rs 2,500 have been provided free to these households.

"We will document the feasibility and effectiveness of these stoves and summit it to the District Collector. So far the results have been very encour- aging", said Benipuri. "But in the next phase it will not be free but will come with subsidy", he added.

Many in the region feel that despite the huge success of central govern- ment's ambitious Ujjawala scheme, millions of rural households, particu- larly in tribal regions, still rely on traditional biomass for cooking which includes firewood, crop residue, cow dung cake, coal, lignite, and charcoal, according to IEA 2014 and India Census of 2011. A large number of households lack the access to proper kitchen and cook inside the house. As a result of this, a vast majority of people, especially women and children suffer from respiratory, cardio-vascular and eye-related problems caused by smoke and soot.

In addition, these traditional ways of cooking generate harmful green- house gases that contribute to climate change and lead to forest degradation

Many in the region feel that techno- logical advancement towards designing improved cook stoves is the need of the hour. While this has happened over the last few decades, communities are still using the traditional cook stoves for various reasons such as costs, quality, donations, behavioral changes etc. This calls for creation of markets for these energy efficient cooking products by market building, improved marketing, user acceptance and creating social awareness.

If every household in India has a cooking device with a 'blue flame' (clean fuel) the impact will be visible on their health and the overall environment. Let's hope the initiative in these four villages changes the way we cook.

250 BENEFICIARIES IN 4 VILLAGES HAVE BEEN PROVIDED UNNAT CHULLAH