Chuskor:An Indigenous Watermill for Sustainable Resource Utilization by the Monpa Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, India

The Monpas are one of the major tribes of Arunachal Pradesh inhabiting the western-most part of the state. They live in close proximity to the forest and other natural resources with rich indigenous knowledge system (IKS) for sustainable development. Chuskor, an indigenous technique for grinding grains into fine flour operated by water power for sustainable water resource utilization is reported here. We also analyse the role of Chuskor as an IKS which, if preserved and continued, may help in the sustainable utilization of renewable resources by local people in difficult mountainous areas.