Erratic power hits modern dhobi units in Malleswaram

BENGALURU: Rathnamma, 40, may have had no technical education, but she is well-versed in using bulky machines for washing around 250 clothes that she gets from Hebbal and Sanjaynagar areas to the mechanised dhobi ghat in Malleswaram, west Bengaluru every day. Her entire family works on the machines for washing, steaming, drying the clothes. And within 24 hours, she takes the washed, ironed clean clothes back to her clients.
This 24-hour deadline is a big challenge now for many like Rathnamma. Why? "There has to be proper power supply in the first place," says Rathnamma.
This is the situation of over 250 dhobi families from around Malleswaram who depend on this facility that has eight washing machines. Their major clients are hotels, lodges, hospitals in around Majestic.
The situation is almost contrary to 2010, when they were relieved as the government set up bulky washing machines and other machines for their aid. For, work at the mechanised dhobi ghat has been hit by irregular load shedding. They suffer around four hours of power outage, including the scheduled cuts, some days.
They all know the power cut schedule by heart. "There would be no power supply from 8 am to 9 am, and again from 6pm to 7pm. The problem is irregular outages over and above the scheduled power cuts. We use the generators only if all the machines are running in full swing. It leads to loss otherwise," Nagaraju, a dhobi at Malleswaram, said.
"As we are charged commercial rates for power, we end up paying Rs 60,000 for electricity every month. We have been using generators too. We have to spend Rs 1,000 on diesel for using the generator for three hours," said Putta Rangaiah, secretary of Malleswaram dhobi ghat. "Whether there's power or not, we can't make customers wait for their clothes. It's a tough time," he added.
Bengaluru has 26 dhobi ghats, but only two are mechanized -Malleswaram unit and Jinke Park, Hanumanth Nagar in south Benagluru.Though the Jinke Park unit was the first to get washing machines in 2006, the community didn't know how to operate the machines then. It was restarted in 2013.
For the community at Jinke Park, every day starts with power snarls. "As per the schedule, there would be no supply from 6 am to 7 am. But this keeps changing. We start the day at 7.30 am and almost every day the work gets delayed by one or two hours due to lack of power. Again, there's no power supply for at least for an hour and a half in the afternoon. In the evening, there's one hour power cut," M Narayana, general secretary of Jinke Park dhobi ghat, said adding that they have also been washing clothes manually alongside.
The unit pays Rs 26,000 for electricity every month. The unit charges Rs 1 per cloth from the dhobi. The unit is not using driers to reduce the power consumption. Powers snarls also affect the machines, so we have to use generators," said Narayana.
DEMAND FOR SUBSIDY
The government has subsidized the power tariff for the weaving community. The dhobi community deserves the same. We also face a lot of health hazards due to constantly working with water and detergents. Every dhobi suffer from fungus infection because of hand-wash. Hence making use of technology and switching over to washing machines are inevitable. The government must support us by giving uninterrupted and subsidized power supply. None of us is covered under any government health schemes, so the government must consider providing that to us," says Putta Rangaiah, secretary of Malleswaram dhobi ghat.
WAITING FOR BETTER DAYS
Rajesh N, 24, is studying financial management and human resources in his free time and dreams of becoming a HR consultant. Rest of the day -basically from 6 am to 9pm -he works in the Malleswaram Dhobi ghat.Rajesh, who is doing MBA through distance education mode, wakes up at 5 am and within a hour he is at the mechanized unit with loads of clothes on his back. "The work has become easier with the help of machines. Washing mats, bed sheets, pandal cover are easy to wash in the machine," says Rajesh.
TIMES VIEW
While the grand plan to provide washing machines to the traditional dhobis is no doubt packed with good intention, not much thought had been given to the power problem. Given that the electricity supply is erratic at best and not available at worst, these dhobis are now trapped in the mess of having machines which cannot be used. The idea of improving their lot has led to a bigger problem. While investing in gensets is not a financially viable option for dhobis, the government must figure out a way to power their machines.