Although water covers nearly two-thirds of the earth's surface, we often face acute shortages.

Fifty-three-year-old Narsima Bhandari from Karnataka, who faced a severe water shortage and found it difficult to sprinkle water on the tall trees in his farms, has devised a unique solution.

He began with the idea of a long pipe that would reach tall trees.

But making water move upwards in a steady flow still remained a problem. Adding to the woes was irregular power supply in the area and the use of electricity for sprinkling water, which resulted in exorbitant bills.

That's when he thought of a simple hand pump that would not only be easy to use but also easy on pocket.

"My house is at a higher level than the rest of the town. As a result, we used to face a lot of water problems. However, we had a pond to store water in our house. That is when I thought of making a hand pump," he said.

Narsimha's hand pump does not involve hard labour, and he claims that this simple innovation can pump water up to a height of 20 meters.

Innovative streak

However, this was only the beginning of Narsimha's innovative streak, and since then, there has been no looking back.

His other innovations include an arecanut dehusking machine, which also won him the National Innovation Foundation's first prize in 2002.

Narsimha, who is a mechanic by profession, now runs his own workshop called Durga Engineering Works and spends many hours experimenting and working on simplifying daily tasks.

His family is extremely supportive of his work, and his two sons find inspiration in their father's achievements.

Narsimha's innovation has the potential of taking water to great heights, and we hope that his passion for innovating and experimenting also touches new highs and never runs dry!