City girl designs solar cycle to help farmers

It is fitted with a drum, and makes watering plants less labour intensive

A 16-year-old student has built a solar-powered cycle to help farmers water their plants and fields.

Rachana Bodagu, a 11th standard student, has created a cycle with three wheels that runs on solar panels. It does not use any fossil fuel. She will soon set up the prototype at Kommasandra lake.

Rachana was taking part in a programme to rejuvenate a lake in Kommasandra, with ‘water warrior’ Anand Malligavad, when the idea struck her.

“I had planted a Miyawaki forest with about 2,000 plants when I realised how much manual labour goes into watering the plants,” she tells Metrolife.

A Miyawaki forest involves planting two to four trees per square metre to grow a self-sustaining forest in two to three years.

It took her about two months to build a prototype of the cycle. “Initially I had to sketch out what the model would look like. I then sat down with my mentor Anand Malligavad to figure out the essential parts. I also had to calculate the costs and vendor details so I could build it at the cheapest cost and ensure it was sustainable,” she explains.

The cycle is fitted with a drum, a pump and features solar panels on top. It cost her Rs 1 lakh to build the vehicle. “We had received funds to rejuvenate the lake through CSR grants. Whatever was leftover from rejuvenating the lake we used to build the cycle,” she says.

Her vision is to help farmers in and around Bengaluru, as many get power supply only at night. “That forces them to work at night, and puts them at risk for major injuries,” she says.

She plans to build more such vehicles. “I have a few contacts of farmers already. I want to help make their job less labour intensive,” she adds. She also plans to rejuvenate more lakes.