Paddling ‘Sea-Horse’ to fish out trash from ponds

Berhampur : Silk City Berhampur’s ponds, choked with floating debris, may get a new lease of life. Sattvic Soul Foundation, Berhampur, has launched an innovative project called ‘Sea-Horse,’ made for the first time in India. It is constructed by using waste materials such as PVC pipes and unused cycle parts to fish out floating garbage and trash from the water bodies.

This project, also referred to as Water Cycle, cleans the pond at zero cost as there is no motor, no batteries, no electricity attached. It purely works in the mechanism of a bicycle. “We have attached welded nets in the cycle which collects the floating garbage and trash from the pond. The maximum load capacity of this device is 100 kilos. It can move around everywhere as it is driven by a human and is easy to regulate,” said Bharat Gourav Dash (28), who invented this project.

“The cost of the device is approximately Rs 3,000 towards welding and painting. The device is yet to be patented. However, we are planning to patent it in the future,” said Bharat.

Bharat is a Human Resource Manager of an IT company and is working from home online from Berhampur. He is also engaged as a District Coordinator, Ganjam, of Sattvic Soul Foundation.

“Additionally, we have designed a life jacket from waste materials (plastic water bottle), ensuring the safety of the operator. Our pilot test in Bijipur pond here on Rath Yatra day yielded outstanding results, marking a significant milestone for our team,” said Bharat.

“A crowd gathered to witness the functioning of our project and they showered appreciation on our efforts. They were bewildered and thrilled to watch the cycle floating and moving on the water, while cleaning all the floating plastics and unwanted wastes from the pond,” he said.

Replying to a question about what prompted him to think about Project Sea-Horse, Bharat said, “as the government-initiated steps to clean all the ponds in Berhampur and spent a lot of money last year, I thought of an idea to make something which could clean the floating trash from the ponds free of cost and in an easier way that can also be environment- friendly.”

Last year, Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) launched cleaning of 42 water bodies using Amphibian weed harvester vessel machine Truxor T-50, which is of Swedish origin. Truxor machine costs Rs 3.19 crore which includes vessel machine, light weight corrosion free trailer, rack collector (floating weed collector), submerged cutter (horizontal and vertical cutter), cutter with collector. Its operational cost is also very high.

The foundation is working for climate action in Berhampur and all over India and cleaning the plastics from the beaches and tourist places as well. With a young team all below 25 years of age and studying at different colleges and universities in Berhampur, they engage themselves in four sectors, including environment, education, gender equality and health care.

“We want to inspire the young masses to come out of the electronic world, do some innovation and creativity to make the world a better place to live for future generations,” said the team members.

The foundation is working on beach cleaning, mangrove forest conservation and restoration, Olive Ridley turtle conservation in Ganjam and plantation.

They are also working in rural and tribal areas of Odisha to educate the underprivileged kids through regular free classes, free dance classes, competitions and motivate them to attend government schools.