GUWAHATI, Dec 6 ? Wind, water, bamboo and some pieces of metal wedded to an innovative idea has created a device that could be of considerable help to marginal farmers in parts of Assam and the rest of the North-east. In several areas in and around the district of Darrang, farmers are getting introduced to a wind turbine-operated water pump.
The device is reliable, easy to install and maintain due to its basic design strength. It comprises supporting posts made of bamboo, which are themselves supported by two inclined bamboo posts. A shaft made of iron is mounted on bearings near the top of the supporting posts. At the centre of the iron shaft, the four-bladed wind turbine is mounted.
The same shaft is connected to the pump through a belt-pulley system, and as the turbine is rotated by the wind, the pulley that is set in motion operates the lever of the pump set on the ground.
Simple as it may appear, it resolves quite a few problems for marginal farmers, for whom it is difficult to buy or maintain a pump set dependent on diesel. The first advantage is its ease of installation and operation, along with its lack of maintenance support. After installation, the farmer can maintain it with his own labour.
Another edge that the device has is cost effectiveness. The owner just needs to buy the first kit, and at one stroke does away with the cost of diesel needed to run a conventional pump set. Compared to a diesel-run pump set it invites no major maintenance cost. At its present cost of about Rs 3,500, the device is therefore considered the most cost-effective solution to water-needs.
The wind turbine operated water pump could just have been a wonderful idea that never took off, had it not been for a meeting between its developer Mehtar Hussain of Muslimghopa, Sipajhar, and a team from Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network, North East (GIAN?NE).
Dr C B Vijaya Vittala, the Chief Innovation Officer of GIAN-NE, described the device as, ?a happy blend of technology and raw materials, responding to local conditions.? Wondering why none could evolve such an implement before, he said, ?what Mehtar has created, underlines how effectively grassroots technology can help fulfil the needs of people.?
According to him, the wind turbine operated water pump is also remarkable because it is environmentally benign, generates no toxic fumes, produces no polluting residues, and noise. ?It is clean and green grassroots technology at its best! That it is designed by a person from a rural background with no technical education makes it even more commendable.?
After becoming aware of the device in the spring of 2004, the members of the GIAN-NE started working with Mehtar from August, following which suitable modifications were carried out to make it more effective. The inputs of Dr P Mahanta, and Dr Ujjal Kr Saha of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT, Guwahati, improved the first design of the device, while evaluating its performance at the same time.
The GIAN-NE also chipped in with a financial assistance to Hussain, who received Rs 15,000 to produce more units, and it also came forward to market them. The response from customers
was beyond expectation, and Hussain was able to repay that amount within 15 days. At present, customer enquiries are on the increase, and there is a possibility of at least 50 units being sold.
During this agricultural season, there would thus be some contended farmers whose fields would have adequate water through a cost-effective green technology, only because one rural farmer could dream of harnessing the wind.