BARIPADA: A 35-year-old farmer of Mayurbhanj has devised a lift water irrigation mechanism that uses waste materials but does not require power supply.
All that Mahur Tipiria, a farmer of Badamtalia village under Sukruli block, needed was bamboo, rejected plastic bottles and iron rods to design the waterwheel which can now irrigate his three acre land.
A Class-II pass-out, his technical ingenuity has taken many by surprise. However, for Tipiria, the innovation was purely borne out of need to sustain his farming.
He realised it did not require rocket science to make a waterwheel and used the basic law of gravity that sends water flowing downwards. He combined waste plastic bottles, bamboo clumps, wooden planks, two iron beams and as many iron rods to create what has become a rage in his area.
Installed on the banks of river Kantakhairi, the 10-ft high waterwheel is strategically located where the water level is higher and gravity leads it into the bottles attached to 40 wooden blades which automatically set the wheel into motion.
Once the wheel starts moving, it discharges water into the farm land through hollow bamboo clumps. The best part is, there is no need for an electric motor, technical equipment or even solar energy for the wheel to operate.
It took Tipiria a month to work on the wheel which became operational 15 days back.
“My land remained unused post karif harvest and lack of irrigation facility did not help. I decided to find ways to prepare the land for rabi crops but could not afford an electric motor. All this prompted me to devise a method and then the idea struck,” says an elated Tipiria who now irrigates his three-acre land with his waterwheel and has also started growing mustard, wheat and vegetables on it. His land is just around 300 metres from the waterwheel.
Before the innovation, Tipiria went through the migration cycle as he moved out outside the State looking for a job post kharif but failed.
Now, he plans to stay back and continue farming here. As news of his innovation spread, many farmers in the block visited the site to interact with Tipiria and understand the mechanism of the device.
Karanjia Sub-Collector Rajanikanta Biswal visited the site last week and lauded Tipiria for his inventive breakthrough.
Biswal has asked Tipiria to elaborate on the waterwheel mechanism at the Horticulture office. As per reports, he will be felicitated on Republic Day on January 26.