Situation Analysis
Zanskar is one of the coldest arid inhabited highlands in the world, situated within an altitudinal range of 3,500 m to 6,478 m above mean sea level. The area is the remotest and one of least accessible parts of Kashmir region with the temperature range from -30°C to 28°C.
Due to the harsh winters, the animal dung seems to be one of the sources of energy in the rural houses to cook foods, boil water and heat up the space to live with ease. This leads the women to wander places for collecting the dung from grazing land and livestock sheds and storing the dung cakes to be used during the winter seasons. During the winter season from December to February, when the temperature rapidly dips down to freeze at about -30oC leading the LPG and electricity to be useless, the dung cakes play a pivotal role in providing the inhabitants a relief from the chilling winter waves.
Plan, Implementation and Testing
Sunshine in this region is quite intense and...