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Apr 23
2020
2020
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India’s Armed Forces and Defence
Ministry production units continue their countrywide assistance in combating
the effects of COVID-19, a dirty and deadly biological 'weapon', which
allegedly emanated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China and spread infection
worldwide, though there has been no authoritative corroboration of this so far
By Anil Bhat Apr 23, 2020
India’s Armed Forces and Defence Ministry production units continue
their countrywide assistance in combating the effects of COVID-19, a dirty and
deadly biological 'weapon', which allegedly emanated from a laboratory in
Wuhan, China and spread infection worldwide, though there has been no
authoritative corroboration of this so far.
The Indian Air Force (IAF), which is ready 24x7 to undertake any task,
airlifted essential medical supplies and commodities from nodal points to
various states across the country including Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana,
Nagaland and the union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
IAF flew dedicated sorties for Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO), airlifting around 9,000 kgs of raw material from various
nodal points for producing personal protective equipment (PPE) at the
production facilities of DRDO.
IAF has mobilised its transport and rotary-wing aircraft along with the
necessary support infrastructure to create and maintain ‘air-bridges’ between nodal
supply bases and recipient locations across the country. IAF has undertaken
transportation of medical supplies including PPE, testing kits, sanitisation
material and associated equipment along with the movement by air of medical
personnel.
The critical requirement of transporting swab samples for testing from
Ladakh continues to be undertaken by IAF. In addition, IAF has also airlifted
COVID support material for various agencies including DRDO and ICMR. Till date,
IAF has transported approximately 450 tonnes of medical equipment and support
materials.
Information about the precautions for COVID-19 along with the regular
guidelines issued by the Government of India continues to be disseminated to
all IAF bases. Stringent sanitisation and social distancing measures have been
put in place to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in IAF workplaces.
The ‘Arogya Setu’ application is being utilised by IAF personnel and their
family members as a proactive measure for keeping them safe.
Reaching out to those in need during the pandemic, Naval Air Station,
Utkrosh and Material Organisation, Port Blair (MO(PBR)), distributed food
in Port Blair for 155 labourers working for the infrastructural development of
the Air Station and staying in its vicinity as well as arranging cooked meals
and dry provisions for the children and staff. Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, a
non-profit organization, provided food and shelter to tribal children and poor
tribal families visiting Port Blair for medical treatment. The team also sensitised
the children and staff about the virus and the precautions to be taken during
lockdown to avoid the spread of the pandemic.
A Portable Mutlifeed Oxygen Manifold developed by Naval Dockyard,
Visakhapatnam was handed over to V Vinay Chand, Collector Visakhapatnam by Rear
Sreekumar Nair, Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard in presence of Rear
Admiral C S Naidu, Command Medical Officer, Eastern Naval Command and Dr PV
Sudhakar, Principal Andhra Medical College on April 9, 2020. The entire
set up uses an industrial 6-way radial header to enable one jumbo size oxygen
bottle to supply oxygen to six patients concurrently. After five sets were handed
over to the collector, 20 more will be supplied by May.
While all missions for coastal and offshore security continues as
before, operational units are being maintained in readiness by following a
14-day quarantine routine to meet immediate contingencies, including assistance
to civil authorities and friendly maritime neighbours.
Several quarantine facilities have been set up in naval premises at
Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and Visakhapatnam. Last week, a batch of 44 pilgrims from
Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir, who were evacuated from Iran and were
quarantined at the naval facility in Mumbai, returned homes, fully satisfied at
the care and comfort they received from the Indian Navy. Naval aircraft have
undertaken many missions flying supplies and personnel aiding state
governments.
The Indian Navy has been proactive in sharing experiences, and SOPs
adopted by them have been hosted on the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS)
website with a view to sharing our protocols with other navies.
Around 50,000 NCC boy and girl cadets have so far volunteered for
various duties after being trained and properly briefed. Ensuring that they are
provided with proper safety equipment like masks, gloves, etc, they have now
been assigned various duties like traffic management, supply chain management,
preparation and packaging of food items, distribution of food and essential
items, queue management, social distancing, manning control centres and CCTV
control rooms. Apart from this, they are sensitising the public about COVID-19
by sending messages on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and
WhatsApp, etc.
Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has started supply of coveralls conforming
to ISO Class 3 exposure standards. Manufacture of an initial order of 100,000
from HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL) is in full swing and will be completed in 40
days.
OFB has also come up with a cost-effective solution for isolation wards
with the manufacture of two-bed tents with medical equipment for screening,
isolation and quarantine. These special tents can be used for a medical
emergency, medical screening, and hospital triage and quarantine purposes. Made
of waterproof fabric, mild steel and aluminium alloy, these tents with a floor
area of 9.55 square metres can be set up in any place and terrain for creating
additional facilities - other than those in conventional hospitals - within a
short period of time. Manufactured by Ordnance Equipment Factory, Kanpur, 50
tents were recently handed over to the government of Arunachal Pradesh.
OFB’s Opto Electronics Factory, Dehradun, has donated 2,500 bottles (100
ml each) of hand sanitisers and 1,000 face masks to the Uttarakhand Governor on
April 6. OFB’s Cordite Factory, Aruvankadu, handed over 100 litres of
sanitisers to the Nilgiris District Police authorities in Tamil Nadu on April
08, 2020. High Explosives Factory, Pune dispatched the first batch of 2,500
litres of sanitisers to HLL, Belgavi on April 9.
Ordnance Factory Ambajhari, Nagpur has developed a fumigation chamber
for the purpose of sanitisation. Fully portable and moveable with ease, it is
installed at the main entrance of the factory’s Hospital. Ordnance Factory,
Dehradun, which indigenously made pedal-operated handwashing systems fitted
with soap dispenser handed them over to the police authorities on April 7.
Ordnance Factory Dehu Road, Pune distributed food kits amongst labourers at
Dehugaon village on April 6, 2020. Two units of the OFB, namely the Small Arms
Factory, Kanpur and the Heavy Vehicle Factory, Avadi, Tamil Nadu have been
granted accreditation by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and
Calibration Laboratories for conducting the ‘Test for Blood Penetration
Resistance’ today as the test equipment manufactured by them met the ASTM F
1670:2003 and ISO 16603:2004 standards. The equipment was developed by a number
of Ordnance Factories in a competitive mission mode in a record time of a
fortnight.
Earlier, this test was available only with South India Textile Research
Association (SITRA), Coimbatore. Testing of the fabric for the manufacture of
coveralls had emerged as a critical bottleneck especially during the nationwide
lockdown and in the absence of logistics.
While this adds another test facility in South India, a first such
facility has been established in North India. This will not only enable the OFB
to ramp up production of coveralls in the clothing factories, four of which are
in UP and one in Tamil Nadu, but will also enable other agencies engaged in the
manufacture of coveralls to avail of this crucial testing facility.
Ordinance Factories (OFs) are presently producing sanitisers 7,500
litres against an order of 28,000 litres from HLL, the nodal agency appointed
by the Indian government for centralised procurement. The OFs have supplied
5,148 litres another 15,000 litres are ready for supply awaiting destination
from HLL. So far, OFB has manufactured 60,230 litres of sanitisers which have
been distributed to units of HLL at Indore, Belgavi, Thiruvananthapuram,
Central Railways, MECL, Nagpur district administration, Uttarakhand, Bihar,
Cantonment Board Willington, DM Nagpur, DRM Solapur besides its own hospitals
in Ordnance Factories. Two test facilities for blood penetration test has been
established, one at Chennai and another at Kanpur.
The OFB has so far manufactured 111,405 masks which include 38,520 3-ply
medical masks. These have been distributed to Tamil Nadu Police, district civil
and police authorities in Firozabad and Agra, Cantonment Board Shahjahanpur,
Government of Uttarakhand, District Health Officer Shahjahanpur, Military
Intelligence, etc.
Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad has
added another product to the portfolio of Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) to combat Coronavirus (COVID-19) by developing COVID Sample
Collection Kiosk (COVSACK).
Developed by DRDL in consultation with the doctors of Employees' State
Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Hyderabad, the COVSACK is a kiosk for use by
healthcare workers for taking COVID-19 samples from suspected infected
patients, whose nasal or oral swab is taken by health care professionals from
outside through the built-in gloves. The Kiosk is automatically disinfected
without the need for human involvement, making the process free of infection
spread. The shielding screen of the kiosk cabin protects the health care worker
from the aerosols/droplet transmission while taking the sample. This reduces
the requirements of PPE change by health care workers. After the patient leaves
the Kiosk, four nozzle sprayers mounted in the kiosk cabin disinfect the empty
chamber by spraying disinfectant mist for a period of 70 seconds. It is further
flushed with water and ultra-violet light disinfection. The system is ready for
next use in less than two minutes. Voice command can be given through the two-way
communication system integrated with the COVSACK. It is possible to configure
COVSACK to be used either from inside or outside as required by the medical
professionals. The COVSACK costs nearly Rs. 100,000 and the identified industry
based at Belgaum, Karnataka can support 10 units per day. DRDO has designed and
developed two units and handed over these to ESIC Hospital, Hyderabad after
successful testing.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Bengaluru, a Defence PSU has set up
isolation ward facility with three beds in the Intensive Care Unit and 30 beds
in the wards. In addition, a building having 30 rooms has been readied. In all,
93 persons can be accommodated at HAL facility. HAL has manufactured and
distributed 25 PPEs to doctors Bengaluru hospitals, which are authorised to
treat COVID-19 patients. It has also manufactured 160 aerosol boxes which have
been distributed to various government hospitals in Bengaluru, Mysore, Mumbai,
Pune, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has come forward on the directions of
the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to manufacture and supply 30,000
ventilators within two months for ICUs in the country. The design of these
ventilators was originally developed by DRDO, which was improved upon by
Skanray, Mysore, with whom BEL has collaborated. BEL is likely to start
manufacturing of ventilators soon. As per tentative schedule, BEL is expected
to manufacture 5,000 units in April, 10,000 in May and 15,000 in June. It is also
making efforts to indigenise these components with the help of DRDO.
Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) with a private start-up in Pune is
developing a prototype of ventilator which is likely to be tested and certified
by 1st week of May before it starts manufacturing.
Defence PSU BEL has joined the efforts for large scale production of
ventilators. Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) has manufactured 25 sets of
five components for Skanray, Mysore for manufacturing of ventilators by them.
Ordnance Factory Board, which heads 40 Ordinance Factories in the country, has
started supply of coveralls conforming to ISO Class 3 exposure standards.
Manufacture of an initial order of 1.10 lakh from HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL) is
in full swing. This order will be completed in 40 days.
Five ordnance equipment factories located at Kanpur, Shahjahanpur,
Hazratpur (Firozabad) and Chennai are engaged in manufacturing of coveralls.
Present production rate is 800 per day. Efforts are on to ramp up to a level of
1,500 per day. For testing the efficacy of coveralls and masks, it has
developed three machines which have been approved by South India Textile
Research Association (SITRA) and are to be used in production to maintain the
standards.
(The writer is a strategic analyst and former spokesperson, Defence
Ministry and Indian Army. He can be contacted at wordsword02@gmail.com)
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