Two years ago when water from the Muvattupuzha river in spate surged into houses in his immediate neighbourhood in Palackamattom near Kolancherry in Ernakulam district, Justin Paul had helplessly watched his friends and neighbours of nearly four decades getting packed off to relief camps.
That flood water had only reached his courtyard and not yet encroached into his living room was of little relief as there was no way to move around except on unsteady round crafts. Those memories were still vivid in his memory when forecast of another potential flood this year came along during the lockdown in the wake of the pandemic.
That set the 40-year-old practising company secretary into uncharted territory beyond his field of expertise. Mr. Paul started rummaging through YouTube for improvised rafts and compiled the blueprint for a makeshift one, which he felt was both feasible and stable. Thus was born his improvised two-seater craft made of PVC pipes.
“Two six-inch pipes of five metres long were joined together using PVC solvent and on that was mounted an iron frame to support two support two chairs of the likes seen in stadiums. It can carry up to two persons weighing around 80 kg each,” he said. He had tried it out multiple times since its completion in June and claimed that it was stable and never once had it toppled.
While the flood this time wasn’t as worse as feared, there was still enough water to plunge the road in front of his home knee-deep in water after submerging the nearby paddy field. Now, rowing around in the craft has become the favourite pastime of his two children and their friends in the neighbourhood.
Mr. Paul has shared the tips of his innovation with many after it evoked much interest ever since he shared videos and pictures of it in various social media groups.
He had to labour alone for two days to complete the raft and it cost around ₹9,000 though he said that it could be made in a day if more persons were involved and it would cost much less if the raw materials could be bought cheap.
Asked whether he had obtained any licence for the craft, Mr. Paul wondered whether there was a need for one as it was a mere survival tool during floods and not meant as a commercial product.
