Bengaluru: A team of five lake fishermen ventured to save aquatic life from the menace of weeds and water hyacinths. The creative invention came in the backdrop of the drastic reduction in the fish catch in Hebbal lake owing to the excessive flowing of weeds (Water hyacinth) in the waterbody.
Hebbal lake is one of the major lakes in Bengaluru with 150 acres of area. But the fishermen of the region were suffering for the past two years due to weed menace.
Papanna, Lourdu Swamy, Arogyaswamy, Joseph and Govindaraj developed an aquatic weed harvester to help the fishermen and preserve the eco-system. The team, led by Arogyaswamy aka Shanthappa, wanted to revive the fishing in Hebbal lake by helping fishermen who were apprehensive of low fallout and getting minimal financial assistance from the Department of Fisheries.
The aquatic weed harvester, designed using an ambassador car engine and scrap materials, is capable of removing weeds spread in 80-acre land area with a cost of Rs eight lakhs. The commercial weed harvesters cost may range from Rs. 40 lakhs to Rs. 4.5 crores.
The team build the floating boxes using 2 mm iron sheets, fitted the engine and prepared the propeller. But the speed of the harvester was slow.
However, the team was reluctant to work further on the new engine.
But 53-year-old team leader Shanthappa, who was involved in fishing for more than a decade, used his metal fabrication and foundry work techniques to improve the machine. He reduced the weight by cutting unwanted parts and increased the surface area of the propeller by adding some additional metal sheets.
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The front part of the machine was fixed with a metal frame basin with spikes projecting in the front and it was able to submerge 2 feet down in the river and pull out the floating weeds.
The team was elated as the harvester was able to remove significant weed following technical modifications. Joint Director of Fisheries Dinesh Kumar, Deputy Director of Fisheries (Bangalore Urban) Chikkanna, Head, Fisheries Research & Information Centre at Hebbal, Dr Shivakumar Magada, Assistant Director of Fisheries Nagendra Babu visited the site and interacted with the fishermen.
The Fisheries Research and Information Centre (FRIC) of Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (KVAFSU) will take it forward by connecting the right organizations like RV College of Engineering, Bangalore, College of Agriculture Engineering, UAS, Bangalore, PES College of Engineering, Mandya to work on this model and come out with an efficient and cost-effective model, so that it can be replicated at large numbers. FRIC is planning to recommend this innovation to the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) for the innovation award.
Similar instances were witnessed in Jammu and Kashmir's Dal lake when the excessive pilling of aquatic weeds started hampering tourism. The Lake Development Authority, J & K purchased two weed harvesters which cost them R. 40 lakhs each to remove the weeds. The competent authorities took a call only at the last moment.
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