Innovative touch:A worker giving final touches to the foldable solar dryer at AKRUTI, in Boisar.SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTSPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, which is assisting unemployed youth living in 16 village panchayats near the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) through its Advanced Knowledge and Rural Technology Implementation (AKRUTI) programme, is all set to launch a similar initiative in the villages surrounding Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP).

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the country’s premier multidisciplinary research and development centre under the Department of Atomic Energy, besides identifying newer nuclear power generation techniques, is devising new, user-friendly and cost-effective technologies in the fields of nuclear science, radioisotopes, industry, health and agriculture. These technologies are being taught to the younger generation and the unemployed youth to make them entrepreneurs.

One of the AKRUTI’s interesting technology transfers is the cost-effective foldable drier, which can be used for drying fruits, vegetables and fishes. The rectangular or triangle-shaped drier having steel mesh trays is covered with rare conducting poly sheets to amplify the atmospheric heat to 200%. “If the temperature outside is 30°C, the heat inside the driver would be 60°C, which dries the fruits and vegetables easily to ensure longer shelf-life,” says Ranjit Singh, coordinator, AKRUTI, Boisor.

These foldable solar driers can also be used for drying fishes in the clean and hygienic environment as it has hanging and tightly tied steel wires. Since the KKNPP is surrounded by 13 coastal hamlets, this type of driver will be a boon to the fishermen.

Site Director, TAPS, Vineet Kumar Sharma, who is also the chairman of AKRUTI, Boisar, says the work undertaken by BARC would benefit the common man.

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