THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A swat, a swipe, an uppercut, a whap and a swish - but the mosquitoes of Alappuzha would still evade E C Thomas’s hands.
The evolution of these ‘mozzies’ has reached such a point that they have become resistant to all the mosquito repellents in the market. Thomas, now a resident of Mannanthala in the city, had declared war on these pesky pests right from a young age and had been thinking of devising some automatic device to eliminate them from existence.
It took many years and many devices, but he has now developed a trapping mechanism which does not require any outside energy for its working.
If the biggest advantage that these flying pests have is their humongous breeding rate, then Thomas has just circled on the same point to mess up the larva development and thus eliminate generations of mosquitoes.
"My motive was never money. My idea was to find an answer to the social problem," said EC, as he is popularly known.
His innovation, ‘Take it Eazzy’, is all about inviting mosquitoes to water and then washing out the larvae with the water before it fully develops into a mosquito. Isn’t this what our forefathers used to do with a coconut shell and water?
"Yes, the principle is just the same. The only difference here, but a major one at that, is that all this is done automatically making use of the basic principles of science. If you were to do it manually, you tend to become lazy and if you go wrong on the dates, the larvae will develop into mosquitoes, making all your efforts go futile," he said.
The positives of this device are that it uses no dangerous chemicals, does not require any routine maintenance and that the unit is made of non-corrosive, eco-friendly and non-toxic materials like steel, fibreglass and ceramic. It can be installed in villas, apartments, public places and even gardens. "If all houses in one area install this device, then we can eliminate generations of mosquitoes," said EC.
The cost of the device is a little prohibitive, nearly Rs 35,000 - Rs 40,000 per unit. But when crores and crores are being spent on vector control, EC feels that this can become affordable with a little subsidy from the government.
However, this innovator and the innovation received lukewarm response from the scientific community, especially the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE). EC said that they even ridiculed him with questions such as how many mosquitoes would lay eggs in this device and so on.
"My problem is that this is not the way they should treat an innovator. I went there as suggested by Education Minister M A Baby. If they say the device is too complex, it should be after seeing the device and not before. There can’t be a simpler one than this. Just imagine the number of people they would have turned down in such a manner," he said.
However, KSCSTE deputy director Ajit Prabhu, who is in charge of the rural innovators programme, maintained that the device was complex.
"We don’t have to see the device, we can easily make out from the sketches. Moreover, the flight path of the mosquitoes cannot be decided by us," he said.
Fortunately, EC is not one to be disappointed by all this. He has filed for a patent and believes that his machine would mark the success to the age-old war on mosquitoes.
trivandrum@expressbuzz.com