Rural youth makes device to curb hyacinth menace

The cost-effective device has drastically cut down the manpower required to clean water bodies

Hyderabad: Every year, the Muktapur tank near Pochampally village would get covered with hyacinths, leaving 50 fishermen jobless for two months as it would take 60 days to clean the water body. G Narsimha, who passed his tenth standard, proposed a device that could effectively cut the hyacinths. The fishermen, though skeptical at the beginning, collected 30,000 rupees and gave it to him. Since then there was no looking back for Narsimha. The device has now resulted in total savings of three lakh rupees as the daily wage of a fisherman is 100 rupees per day for almost two months. It previously took 50 people to do the job that can now be accomplished by just four people and the device that costs only 7000 rupees. Today, the Muktapur lake is now free from hyacinths and the quality of water too has improved.

With the news of this innovation reaching nearby villages, many have come to seek Narsimha’s help. Even the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has assigned him projects to clean up several lakes in the city. Presently, he is involved with the cleaning of Shadan Talab near Toli Chowki. Narsimha says, “The machine can cut around 800 leaves per minute. Previously, almost 600 people took three months to clean Shadan Talab. We are now doing it with just five people and we would complete the job in a month.”Explaining its functioning, Narsimha says that the device uses a five hp motor to rotate a shaft with eight cutters positioned diametrically. A grill at the bottom of the cutter provides a platform for cutting and the pieces drop down from the grill. The hyacinth is supplied to the cutter through a conveyor belt that is placed in front of the cutter towards the water.

P Ganesham, a member of the honeybee network that documents grassroot innovators says, “What makes the innovation even more special is that the machine can also enter lakes without drowning while at the job. Hyacinths pose a huge problem and this machine can mitigate it.” Every year, the Government of India presents awards to innovators and this year Narasimha’s innovation too has been chosen. He would receive the award from the President of India in 2016.Narsimha is now busy developing the machine further and also moving from one lake to another. He says, once cleaned, the lakes would need continuous maintenance or the hyacinths would continue spreading. Is the civic body listening?

By T P Venu