Mrityunjay Sahu, the founder and CEO of Bariflo Labs, knows that if we aren’t careful with nature, it won’t be able to take care of us. Through his venture, he is looking to nurse water bodies back to health with the use of robotics, AI, and IoT. This was his dream since a health scare while he was pursuing a Ph.D. in environmental fluid dynamics at the University of Sydney.
It all began when Sahu had a kidney stone that could not be easily removed. With his student visa, he was unable to avail of any medical facilities to take care of this initial health scare. With help from a urologist, he was able to receive preliminary surgery and found out the cause of his stone was contaminated groundwater and not genetic. This was his lightbulb moment and he committed himself to restoring what he calls the “eyes” of nature.
But Sahu wasn’t done yet; thereafter, he suffered a brain haemorrhage and had to undergo multiple surgeries, and was bedridden for nearly a year. As soon as he recovered, he returned to India and dedicated himself to reversing the damage that man-made activities have caused on water bodies.
He started to look at water bodies near IIT Bombay, such as the Powai Lake, and found that no one was working on solutions for it. With financial help from the government, Sahu and his team designed an aeration device for the waterbody that potential enough oxygen for the interface between the sediment and water. This device, combined with robotics and sensors, was able to monitor the health of the water body and collect relevant data. With AI, they automated the whole process.
This venture has helped improve the condition of many water bodies, using local resources to keep costs down. Sahu has since applied for patents and continues to work on maintaining the health of water bodies. With a multidisciplinary approach, and the help of a 50-strong team, his goals of helping improve the eyes of nature are being realized.
