In today’s world where almost, every innovation requires electricity to run inventions, a resident of Mawkyrdep in Ri Bhoi district came up with an idea of an eco-friendly hand pump, something that is seen as a challenging task.
Jeff Kharumnuid was a man stumbled by a team of the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency during a field trip through the Community Led Landscape Management Project (CLLMP) funded by the World Bank.
Impressed by the hand pump and the versatile Jeff, the team shared his story with Highland Post to enable him to execute and produce his ideas on a larger spectrum that will help in re-shaping and making the world a better place for everyone through his small invention.
Being an intrigued man, Jeff saw how difficult it was for the nursery keepers to collect water from the nearby river and water the plants inside it. An idea popped in his mind about how to make a pump that would not require any electric supply to run it and thereby making their work easy in running the nursery.
He had many sleepless night and days thinking of an idea. Through YouTube Jeff learned and executed his ideas and made the hand pump.
The hand pump consists of a wooden frame, pipes, a gallon, plastic rope, and a few other materials required in making it. The height of the pump from the water surface is approximately around 8 feet and water is pumped up only by rolling a wheel-like tool. The water gets pumped in a gallon and passed out to the nursery through a pipe.
Buoyed by its success, Jeff plans to build more hand pumps to enable villagers draw water. He said that with the help of this pump the village is also planning to keep a fish rearing unit, a structure which has already been laid down beside the nursery.
Jeff said though he is not highly educated and cannot be compared to many inventions which have revolutionized the world and their approach to better living and lifestyle, he believes his hand pump will get along with nature as it does not destroy the land or soil in the area.
Pointing out that Meghalaya is a hilly state with fast-flowing rivers that needs lots of manpower and resources to trap the river waters to direct them to the cultivated fields the team said building dams are not only costly but could also submerge the surrounding area where it could affect the ecosystem of the particular area.
“Jeff’s innovation could change the lives of the people around Meghalaya, for not only is it low in cost, but it is also easy to access water even on elevated grounds without bringing any damage to the environment as the water would be left as it is in its natural state and would be taken only when it is needed,” the team said, adding, “Farmers and villages in the hilly areas could easily get access to water bodies that are at the foothills.”
They believed that Jeff’s hand pump is an example that even if it is small and not known popularly, his work surely one day will speak up for itself and be at par with the other big inventions that has brought various changes to the world.
