Self-taught engineer from Nashik develops tractor-mounted for mass sanitisation

NASHIK: A firm resolve to prevent the coronavirus from entering his village prompted a Nashik man and his two sons to develop an innovative tractor-mounted sanitization sprayer which has drawn huge attention.

The trio of Rajendra Jadhav, and his sons Mangesh and Dhananjay - hailing from Satana village - had been closely following the scourge of COVID-19 virus that has wreaked havoc in India, especially Maharashtra, and Nashik is among the Red Zones.

"We carried out research and experiments in our workshop to finally develop a machine within 25 days that can be utilized for mass-cleaning of roads, alleys and other public spaces in a short time at minimum expenses," Dhananjay Jadhav told IANS.

A self-taught engineer, Rajendra Jadhav garnered all his technical prowess - acquired from designing and manufacturing agricultural tools and machines - to ultimately develop 'Yashwant' tractor-mounted sanitizer, costing roughly Rs 1.75 lakhs.

In heartening news for the Jadhavs, the sprayer has been identified by National Innovation Foundation (NIV) as a potential S&T based innovative solution in India's war against the virus.

The sprayer comprises two radial aluminium fans moving opposite to each other, each sucks air from opposite directions which is released through nozzles at high pressure with minute droplets of the sanitizer.

Since the panel rotates at 180 degrees, it can easily cover upto 15 feet tall walls, with a capacity of 600 litres of water plus the disinfectant of around 3.5 litres, and can be mounted on any 15 HP tractor, he added.

The biggest advantage is that 'Yashwant' barely needs any human intervention and a single person can drive the tractor and operate the sprayer simultaneously.

"Its very convenient, cheap and quick. The sprayer is mounted on a tractor - the most important vehicle in the rural landscape - and can sanitize or wash large areas like roads, alleys, societies, doors, compounds, walls, etc.," Dhananjay Jadhav explained.

Presently, the innovation is being used by Satana Nagar Nigam to cleanse and disinfect around 30 sq km areas in the village every fortnight, and can be used even for urban centres.

A Zilla Parishad leader from Dhule was excited to learn about the invention and ordered one machine which is being deployed in a big way in various villages in the district.

"We have now applied for a patent for 'Yashwant' sprayer. We may also consider hiring it out or lending it to other local civic bodies in different towns and districts, besides building more such sprayers as per demand to combat the Coronavirus," Jadhav said.