Farmers go solar to stay connected

Mobile phones are required to stay connected. However, when has embarked upon a 170-km long march from Trimbakeshwar to Mumbai from March 6 to 12, it implies lack of cell-phone charging facilities, inability to take calls, inability to update information on social media and also implies that no news will be available to farmers. To overcome these issue, some marchers were seen carrying odd contraptions on their heads. They were solar panels and the farmers were seen charging their phones using these devices.

To prevent their phones from running out of battery life, on this long journey from Nashik to Mumbai, one of the farmers had come up with this brilliant idea. Nathu Nivrutti Udaar brought along with him a tablet-sized solar panel. This was one of the main attractions at the various stopovers that the farmers took, arousing curiosity among citizens. The fact that he carried it on his head, made many all the more curious.

Nivrutti said that on a daily basis he would tie the solar battery to his head with a gamja (scarf). A half-hour charge on a daily basis could provide enough battery for five phones to run smoothly for a couple of hours. The panels could charge four-five phones at one time. The heat towards Mumbai has been intense and no one else may have blessed the blazing sun for giving him and his co-protestors a natural energy to charge their cell-phones. “The reason for carrying this solar panel was that farmers need to charge their mobiles so that they can contact their family members. So, this solar panel will help them to charge their phones,” added Nathu. Even in such distressing times, the farmers had a lesson to teach urban citizens.