Vadodara teen on mission to purge plastic from water bodies

VADODARA: He is just 17. But Varun Saikia, a Barodian has taken up a bid to free water bodies across the globe of plastic waste along with his mate 'Flipper', a hi-tech cleaning vessel. On a mission, Varun recently got a patent from the government for his technological gadget. Flipper doesn't just pick up plastic waste but also simulates pathways of the garbage from rivers to the oceans!
"I got the patent for the technology I developed from the government. I want to employ Flipper for a larger cause and address plastic waste menace that is harming aquatic lives and polluting the water bodies," Saikia, a student of Navrachana Sama School, told TOI.
"Flipper can pick up floating waste ranging from 150kg to 500 tonnes depending on the size of the vessel. The automated vessel that runs on artificial intelligence (AI) can operate by itself or be attached to any ship for picking up the waste," Saikia said.
"Flipper has a camera fitted that detects plastic waste and picks it up. The device on board also has a system that identifies the type of plastic waste it has picked up and also logs the spot. This way, we can have data on the spots in the water bodies where plastic waste is found in large quantities," Saikia said.
The youngster recently got admission to Carnegie Mellon University in the US on a full scholarship. Saikia has opted for environmental engineering degree as he wants to take his project on a larger scale.
"I have already networked with over 250 volunteers from different countries in the world. We meet online and I suggest various ways to keep the water bodies clean. I have also taught some of them to build the automatic water cleaning machine," Saikia added.
The boy, who has also floated a startup, is also in talks with the state governments of Gujarat, Assam and Maharashtra to provide this technology.
When asked what made him design the Flipper, Varun said, "I read about a whale that died off the seacoast in Thailand after consuming a lot of plastic. I researched a bit more and realised how non-biodegradable waste is damaging our water bodies and aquatic life. And, that's when I thought of developing a system to clean up the water bodies."
Varun built a small prototype called 'Makara' and used it to clean a lake in the Gotri area at the age of 12.