Hyderabad: Clean water is a luxury for many people living in remote villages of the country. When technology has advanced so much that it can make people travel to distant planets in the solar syatem, why can't it help people access clean water? An answer to this question led Dr. Vibha Tripathi to work hard to come up with a solution. Dr. Tripathi, an IITian invested her mettle and came up with WaterATM to make clean water affordable to everyone.
Tripathi was born and brought up in a small village in Uttar Pradesh. She studied at IIT Kanpur and began her career as a professor at the same institute. She was happy with her job, but her interest in 'Flexible Organic Solar Cells' changed her destiny. She knew that her calling was somewhere else. She resigned from her job in pursuit of opportunities in solar energy.
Soon she set up Saurya Enertech, a company primarily engaged in organising workshops, training, and seminars on the use of solar energy. Back then, solar energy was a new thing. Tripathi said, "I travelled to rural areas and slums due to my work. I realised that basic commodity like water is a luxury for people there. Accessibility to clean water was a major concern for people there. Getting clean water requires people to walk great distances. I wanted to solve this problem."