Self-taught engineer creates a tractor-mounted sanitation sprayer to prevent the spread of Covid-19

Rajendra Jadhav was worried about the spread spread Covid-19 pandemic. When the first cases were reported in his district of residence, he felt he had to do something to prevent the virus from reaching his village. Jadhav is a self-taught engineer, having gained knowledge through years of designing and developing tools for agriculture, so he decided to put his skills to work and developed a sanitation sprayer that is mounted to a tractor.

“As the number of cases multiplied in urban areas, I knew that it might reach my village and other rural parts of the State. As an innovator in the fabrication sector, I was thinking of developing a sprinkling machine. Earlier, I had developed a sprinkler to sprinkle pesticides in the field. I felt that the same formula could be used to make a sanitiser sprinkler,” Jadhav explained in a interview.

The machine is called Yashwant, which means “the successful one” and was built in 25 days with the help of his two sons Mangesh and Dhananjay. It has a 600-litre tank to hold the disinfecting solution, that is sprayed through a system of aluminum fans that move in opposite directions. It is meant to be mounted on a 15 Horse Power tractor and can be operated with minimal human intervention.

"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.," son Dhananjay Jadhav explained.

This innovation has been gathering attention from around the country, with the Jadhav family receiving orders to manufacture more machines and has even been mention by Prime Minister Modi and identified by India’s National Innovation Foundation as a potential solution to help India in the fight against Covid-19.

Adapted from: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/we-have-fight-covid-19-with-al...
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/may/26/self-taught-engineer...