IDUKKI: Can a fourth-class dropout apply principles of energy conversion to protect his livelihood? In a remote tribal settlement inside the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, 47-year-old Sreeraman from Iruttalakkudy in Marayur has done exactly that: Creating simple, low-cost devices that keep wild animals at bay and help save his hard-earned crops.
At a time when many in Kerala are giving up on framing due to relentless raids by wild elephants, bisons and boars, Sreeraman has become a grassroots innovator to protect his way of life. He has turned the flow of water into kinetic energy and then mechanical energy, creating a device that produces a constant sound to deter intruders.
Speaking to TNIE, Sreeraman said he began experimenting about four years ago, when frequent raids by wild animals were destroying his vegetables, tubers, pepper and coffee. “Having attended school up to fourth grade, I don’t possess the scientific or technical know-how of developing instruments. But I worked on an idea I had in mind and it yielded results,” he said.
One of his devices uses water from the streams that flow through the sanctuary. The water fills a plate, which tips over when full, making a wooden stick with an iron hook strike a metal plate. The sharp sound is produced round the clock, deceiving intruders into thinking humans are present on the field. “The biggest benefit is that I don’t have to guard the farm all day and night,” he said.
In addition, Sreeraman has adopted a “hanging-torchlight technique”, whereby a battery-powered torch is fixed to a cardboard sheet and hung over the farm. The board swings in the wind, scattering beams of light across the field. The flashes deter animals, and the only maintenance required is the occasional change of batteries.
For fellow farmers of Iruttalakkudy, Sreeraman is nothing short of a “farmer scientist”. “His techniques show how traditional wisdom and observation can be turned into practical solutions,” a forest official familiar with the settlement said.