Grassroot Innovations have always been fascinating stuff to me. When we see the mad rush today for getting degrees and certificates, you are always struck by the amazing practical insights of the common man. We have debated about Raghav Radio at length on this forum and probably his story has been covered by almost all mainstream and even alternate media agencies.

Next up we have Mohammed Saidullah who hails from Jatva-Jeneva of Motihari district, Bihar and is currently engaged in selling honey in the market. A philosopher, his mind is always occupied in problem-solving, which would benefit the family and society and he has made various environment-friendly and yet affordable functional innovations such as Mini tractor, key operated Table Fan, Fodder cutter operated Mini water pump, Conserved Energy operated bicycle and Mini turbine for electric generation. He has named the Noor Bicycle, after his wife.

Mohammad Saidullah developed an amphibious bicycle which is a conventional bicycle to which four rectangular air floats are attached, which support the bicycle when moving in water, and fan blades are attached in a radial manner on the spokes of the rear wheel which enable it to run on both water and land.

The blades are arranged in such a fashion that it can be driven in reverse direction also. The advantages are obvious as people in rural areas need no longer solely depend on the few boats which tend to be overcrowded for crossing the river and it can be done at one’s own convenience.

As it operates on both land and water, the time and money required for hiring a boat to cross the river and for further transportation on land is saved. A further application could be in amusement parks or children’s parks. Saidullah was awarded the first prize for his presentation of a showcase of his innovations during the Republic Day Parade in Patna in 1995. You can check the video clip here


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