(May 29, 2022) Working on a Miyawaki forest plantation drive near Kommasandra Lake in Bengaluru, 16-year-old Rachanaa Bodugu realised she had been mistaken in thinking farmers have an easy job. There’s usually no electricity during the day, for starters, which means pumping water into the fields is a challenge. “Electricity is mostly available in the night time and farmers struggle to irrigate their crops,” says the teen, who is a class 11 student at Indus International School. A little digging showed that agricultural processes are not water-efficient, leading to sky-high energy bills for farmers. “Irrigation by manual methods is very laborious,” Rachanaa tells Global Indian. “I was compelled to come up with a solution.”
Rachanaa Bodugu
Eco-friendly solution
“It is a step towards sustainability and effectiveness of farmers,” Rachanaa remarks, adding, “during the plantation of 2,000 plants for Miyawaki forest, I realised how much manual labour goes into watering the plants.” She started researching ways to water plants more efficiently. Trawling through the internet, she hit upon an idea, and backed every step of her innovation with reliable research. It is an unusual model that the teen came up with – a three-wheel cycle that runs on solar panels. Once the design was ready, she fine-tuned the idea with her mentor, Anand Malligavad, under whose guidance she had been working to rejuvenate Kommasandra Lake and reviving the fauna around its lakebed.
Rachanaa giving finishing touches to her innovation – the solar cycle
Her mentor, Anand, is a mechanical engineer and a lake conservationist – well qualified to give Rachanaa the feedback she needed. Her cycle is fitted with a drum, a pump and has solar panels installed on top. It doesn’t require fossil fuel to run and can pump water from a nearby source. “Madhusudhan, an acquaintance, helped me with the solar panels,” says Rachanaa. Using funds provided by her parents, the teen set to work on a cost-effective prototype.
“The protype has been tested successfully and I am hopeful for CSR funds so that more and more farmers can be helped,” she tells.
Finding the path
Spending about four months in lake rejuvenation and revival of fauna around it sparked Rachanaa’s mind with great insights. “I was intrigued by Anand sir’s initiatives of lake revival, and joined him out of curiosity,” She went expecting a laidback cleaning drive but was impressed to find the team using highly scientific methods. “Those few months spent making a difference around Kommasandra Lake were a great learning opportunity,” she smiles.
Kommasandra Lake in Bengaluru
Triggered by her own hardships, her vision to help farmers in and around Bengaluru is commendable, given her age. “My innovation would make life not only less laborious but more convenient for them as they would not feel compelled to work at night when electricity is available, losing their sleep and making themselves prone to injuries in the dark,” she believes.
Rachanaa with her mentor, water conservationist, Anand Malligavad
Rachanaa finds inspiration in Anand, whose work fills her with desire to be of more help to the people at large. “He has been impressively rejuvenating so many lakes in such a short time and that too without spending much money,” says the youngster, who aspires to be an entrepreneur and remain attached to the cause of saving the environment. She also loves spending time with her parents Sudhakar and Geeta and her brother, Krishna, as well as painting, sculpting, watching YouTube and Netflix.
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