We all like swimming in pools. But there is a certain emotion attached to swimming in a natural lake or pond. There is the open air, there is the closeness to nature and, of course, there is the wild and unrestrained aspect to it.

However, anyone who has swum in a natural lake will quickly realise there is one small issue – various things keep brushing your feet! Now, the natural wildlife – like crabs or fish – have every right to be in that lake.

But surprisingly, much of the problem comes from water weeds, which are actually deadly to natural lakes. They tend to grow wild, and will soon overgrow to such an extent that the lake itself will disappear.

A solution for water weeds is a much-needed innovation. And here is the team that has the innovation!

“My friends and I like swimming in lakes. During one swimming session in the Malnad region, we felt uncomfortable to swim as there were many underwater plants in the lake. When we discussed this with some locals who clean the lake, they told us that it was very difficult to remove those plants and clean the lake manually. That’s when we decided to do something about it and came up with our innovation, the ‘Pond E Plus’,” says Pradyumna P from Hongirana School of Excellence, Shimoga, Karnataka.

The prototype that Pradyumna and his team came up with is a boat designed to clean lakes. A mechanical arm in the boat collects waste and dumps it in the waste collector in the boat.

The interesting part about the innovation is that the boat can be automatically controlled by a person with a mobile phone and can be operated with the help of Bluetooth and GPS connections.

Also, it is powered by solar energy and does not require any fuel to be operated.

“In the future, we are planning to add a water testing and a sanitary kit to our prototype,” says Pradyumna, who hopes this simple idea will help kee lakes across India alive and lets his friends enjoy swimming