Vinod went to his ancestral village alongwith his father during the summer holydays. He found that women of the village still used dried cow-dung cakes (uple) as the fuel to cook food and for other heating purposes. One day Vinod went to Panchayat meeting in the village which is attended by all the village elders and requested them to instal 'Gobar gas plant' in the village and use cow-dung in it to produce gobar gas, instead of burning cow-dung cakes directly. He explained the advantages of using gobar gas as a fuel instead of cow-dung cakes. Every one liked the idea and thanked Vinod for guidance.
(a) State two disadvantages of using dried cow-dung cakes as a fuel for cooking food.
(b) State two advantages of using gobar gas as a fuel for cooking food.
(c) What values are displayed by Vinod in this whole episode ?

Explanation

(a) (i) Burning of dried cow-dung cakes as fuel produces a lot of smoke which causes air pollution in the house and damages the health of all the family members, especially women and children.
(ii) The burning of dried cow-dung cakes as fuel destroys the important plant nutrients (like nitrogen and phosphorus) present in them which could otherwise be used to increase the fertility of soil in the fields.
(b) (i) Gobar gas burns without producing any smoke and hence does not cause any air pollution. This ensures good health for village people, especially women and children (who spend most of their time inside the house).
(ii) The cow-dung slurry left behind after the extraction of gobar gass still contains the plant nutrients (like nitrogen and phosphorus) which can be used as a manure in fields to increase the fertility of soil.
(c) The values displayed by Vinod are (i) General awareness (or knowledge) of the alternative sources of energy (such as gobar gas), and (ii) Concern about the environment and health of village people (exemplified by his desire to reduce air pollution).