Puri: In a first of its kind incident in Odisha, a potter has shaped clay pots with the help of a solar-powered wheel in the Holy City here.
The use of solar-powered wheel for shaping clay pots has created a ray of hope for the potters in the city here and on its outskirts whose potteries had been badly damaged by the cyclonic storm Fani, May 3.
At least 180 potteries in Kumbharapada, Tikarapada, Jenapur, Puri Sadar, Brahmagiri and Satyabadi areas of the district had been completely damaged by the summer storm.
According to sources, Laxman Bisoyi, a potter from the city here, shaped at least 25 clay pots with the help of a solar-powered wheel within an hour Wednesday. A private company has installed the solar-powered wheel at Bisoyi’s house on experimental basis, sources added.
“A solar panel installed on the rooftop provides power to the wheel. One can shape pots easily with this mechanical wheel. Earlier, we used to turn the wheel manually while shaping pots,” said an elated Bisoyi.
Mahendra Bisoyi, a member of Puri Kumbhakar Niyog, said the private company is ready to provide solar-powered wheels to other potters of the city and its nearby areas after analysing the trial run.
“A solar-powered wheel would cost around Rs 60,000. We urge the district administration to bear the costs for the cyclone-affected potters in Puri. The solar-powered wheel will help improve the financial condition of potters by enabling them to shape more number of pots in a day,” Mahendra said.
Notably, the cyclone-affected potters had urged the district administration to provide financial assistance to them to set up new potteries. There were also apprehensions that supply of clay pots for the preparation of Mahaprasad at Srimandir might be affected as most of the potteries in the Holy City were damaged by the May 3 cyclone.