RWA to Give Dhobis New Ironing Press Tables
There are about thirteen Dhobis in Sector 15A. We are all familiar with their makeshift stalls, a wooden bench with a padded surface, the makeshift chairs and the trusty charcoal burning old fashioned pressing iron. It’s been around for decades and their fortune is tied to tradition and antiquity. Technology seems to have passed them by and the present situation prevents any thought of change.
It was, therefore, a pleasant surprise to come across a post that the RWA is making a change! They have provided an iron press table (MS) powder-coated with a covered roof to the dhobi located near H.no.74 on a trial basis. This has cabinets to keep both ironed and to-be-ironed clothes. They are planning to provide some bigger tables with similar facilities to other dhobis located at various places of the Sector, with provision for two persons to iron at the same time. The design of the table has been planned to keep the area neat and clean.
On hearing of this initiative, we investigated further and were told that adjacent to the Sector 30 Club boundary is dhobi Anita, who for the past some time has been using a rechargeable LPG gas cylinder connected to a brass pressing iron. She tells us that it is easy to use, economical and much cleaner – no charcoal-stained hands, no polluting smoke and less wastage. In Sectors 21 & 25, dhobis have even got electric connections which the RWA has helped with.
Dhobi Ramesh subsequently told us that in a good month he uses 30kg of charcoal. Multiply that by twelve and you get an idea of the quantity of pollution being generated. Very soon, when winter arrives, we will all be concerned about reducing smoke pollution. Our RWA, while revamping the dhobi tables, should consider making them electricity-compliant and help them get electricity connections with meters. Of course, this opens up a whole can of worms as meters can only be given to homes, shops, factories, offices and other fixed establishments.
Word is that we should not go by appearances as every dhobi adda of the Sector makes a reasonable amount of money and the asking price of these addas, depending on the location, runs into lakhs. Some feel that the RWA should take control of this and auction each adda and that this idea was being mooted some years back by the then RWA. But let’s not displace the existing dhobhis who have been rendering sterling service to the residents of the Sector by the sweat of their brow.
In a lighter vein, it looks like this is the only ‘pressing’ problem facing this elite (elitist?) Sector at this point of time!
