WORDSWORD NEWS
"May words be mightier than swords and the pen mightier than the sten."
- Anil Bhat
Sunday, 26 July 2020
Very useful Covid related innovations by DRDO and IAF
Anil Bhat
On June
01, 2020, Ministry of Defence announced that Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) has developed a disinfection unit named Ultra Swachh (clean)
to disinfect a wide range of materials, including Personal Protective Equipment
(PPEs), electronics items, fabrics, etc. Institute of Nuclear Medicine &
Allied Sciences (INMAS), DRDO’s Delhi based laboratory has developed this
product with industry partner M/s Gel Craft Healthcare Private Ltd, Ghaziabad.
The
system uses an advanced oxidative process comprising of multiple barrier
disruption approach using Ozonated Space Technology for disinfection. The
system is double layered with specialised Ozone sealant technology assuring
trapping of ozone for the necessary disinfection cycle. It also has catalytic
converter to ensure environment friendly exhaust i.e. only
oxygen and water. In compliance with International Standards of Industrial,
Occupational, Personal and Environmental Safety, the Ultra Swachh comes in two
variants, namely Ozonated Space and Trinetra Technology. Trinetra technology is
the combination of Ozonated space and radical dispenser. Treatment is optimised
with automation for quick disinfection cycle.
Ultra Swachh,
which operates on 15 Ampere, 220 Volts, 50 Hertz power supply, has been
provided with various safety features such as emergency shutdown, door
interlocks, dual door, delay cycle, and leak monitors, etc to ensure safe operations
for longer duration. Dimensions of the Industrial Cabinet are 7’x4’x3.25’ to
disinfect a large quantity at a time. Cabinets of different sizes will be
available for the industry.
On June 8, 2020, Indian Air Force
(IAF) announced that it has designed, developed and inducted an Airborne Rescue Pod for
Isolated Transportation (ARPIT), which will be utilised forevacuation of
critical patients with infectious diseases including COVID-19 from high
altitude area, isolated and remote locations.
The requirement
of an air evacuation system with facility to prevent spread of infectious
aerosol from a COVID-19 patient during air travel was felt by IAF when COVID-19
was declared as a pandemic. The first prototype was developed at 3 Base Repair Depot,
Air Force and has undergone various modifications. Supporting the “Atmanirbhar
Bharat” (self-reliant India) call by the Prime Minister, only indigenous
materials have been used to fabricate this pod. This indigenously designed
system has been developed at a cost of Rs Sixty Thousand only, which is one hundredth
the cost of the imported systems i.e. Rs Sixty Lakh (60,00,000)
The system
has been developed as a lightweight isolation system made from aviation
certified material. It has a transparent and durable cast Perspex for enhanced
patient visibility which is larger, higher and wider than the existing models.
The isolation system caters for suitable number of air exchanges, integration
of medical monitoring instruments, and ventilation to an intubated patient. In
addition, it generates high constant negative pressure in the isolation chamber
for prevention of infection risk to aircrew, ground crew and health care
workers involved in air transportation. The ARPIT utilises High Efficiency
Particulate Air (HEPA) H-13 class filters and supports invasive ventilation
using Transport Ventilator. The design integrates life support and monitoring
instruments (defibrillator with multipara monitor, pulse oximeter, Infusion
pumps etc), long arm gloves for use by health care professionals and power pack
with high endurance. Design requirements have been evolved and are based on the
guidelines issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), National
Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) and Centre
for Disease Control (CDC), USA. The IAF is
inducting seven ARPITS to begin with.
The author,
a strategic analyst, can be contacted at wordsword02@gmail.com
BRO
SPEEDS UP CHALLENGING WORK ON MOUNTAINOUS ROADS AND BRIDGES FOR
COMBATING COVID19
Anil Bhat
Truly and most justifiably, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is in
the essential services list through the COVID lockdown with not a day’s rest, connecting
to remote border areas in the crisis, true to the adage, ‘BRO creates,
connects, cares’. Cares means that it maintains the constructed bridge/road/installation
to ensure its continuous serviceability, which gets affected owing to heavy
snow, landslides or floods.
BRO re-opened the strategic
Srinagar-Leh highway that connects Ladakh with the rest of India on April 11,
2020. About 18 oil tankers and other essential commodities were initially
allowed to move towards Leh/Ladakh from Zojilla pass, a challenging process,
which was managed despite fresh snowfall over the Zojila pass area.
The 425 kilometres road was closed since December 2019 due to heavy
snowfall at Zojila pass. Responding to directions from Divisional Commissioner
Ladakh for emergent stockpiling of essential commodities in the Union Territory
of Ladakh, Project Beacon and Project Vijayak cleared fresh snow around Zojilla
at the height of 11,500 feet and made the road motorable.
2020’s snowfall has broken records of the last six decades. Dual snow
clearance operations were undertaken by Project Beacon from Gagangir to
Zero Point and from Zero Point to Drass, by project Vijayak.
During the nationwide lockdown the bridge at Daporijo over the Subansiri
river in Arunachal Pradesh has been constructed by BRO, giving a boost to the line
of communication in India’s vast and geo-strategically important Eastern-most State.
The bridge is a vital strategic link towards the Line of Actual
Control (LAC) between India and China. All supplies, rations, construction
material and medicines pass over this bridge, that had developed cracks
which could have led to a major catastrophe like the one on July 26, 1992, when
a passenger bus fell off the bridge leaving no survivors. With the intervention
of DG, Border Roads and Chief Engineer, Project Arunank, expeditious sanctions
were obtained from the Defence Ministry and Arunachal Government. The difficult
and dangerous launch was completed in record time while adhering to all
COVID-19 precautions.
Work started for construction of the bridge on March 17, 2020 by 23 BRTF
(Border Roads Task Force). After 27 days, on April 14, 2020, the bridge was
jacked down successfully and safely on the supports. It has been successfully
upgraded from class 24 tons to class 40 tons thereby allowing heavier vehicles
to pass, catering for not only the Army’s requirements but the future infrastructure
development requirements of Upper Subansiri district.
Chief Minister, Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu inaugurated the bridge
over a video conference and it was opened for traffic movement from April 20, 2020.
The
formidable Rohtang Pass (13,500 feet above sea level) is one which gets
snowbound during the winter and needs to be opened every year. BRO opened the
Pass on April 25, 2020, more than three weeks earlier than scheduled and during
the Covid-19 lockdown. This was done after a major snow clearing operation on
the arterial road connecting Lahaul Valley with the rest of the country. In
2019, the pass was opened on May 18.
Himachal
Pradesh Government had approached BRO to expedite the snow clearance to
facilitate return of farmers for starting cultivation and movement of essential
supplies and to bring relief materials to Lahaul Valley in wake of COVID-19.
BRO
inducted hi-tech machinery from both Manali and Khoksar. Snow blizzards,
freezing temperatures and frequent triggering of avalanches at Rahala Fall,
Beas Nallah and Rani Nallah did delay the operations but the snow clearance
teams kept on working relentlessly day and night, while adhering to all
COVID-19 precautions, to provide relief to the residents of Lahaul
valley.
The
first convoy of about 150 vehicles carrying essential supplies and guided by
BRO, moved to Lahual Valley on April 25, 2020. The news of Rohtang Pass being
opened for traffic three weeks in advance as compared to previous year brought
relief amongst the local population. It will facilitate the Centre and State
Governments to bring much needed relief material and medical supplies for the
local population. Also, the agriculture activities which are the backbone of
the District can now recommence.
Snow
clearance operation for the opening of the pass is carried out every year as
the pass remains snow bound for almost six months i.e. from mid-November to
mid-May. It was kept open till December 12, 2019. During winters, the complete
valley remains dependent on maintenance of essential supplies by air.
Apart
from all the actions mentioned to augment the Government’s efforts against
COVID-19, all personnel of Border Roads Organisation have collectively
contributed one day’s salary over and above a contribution of Rs. 10 million to
the PM CARES Fund.
As on January
01, 2020, BRO has been working on 883 roads of length 27,404.18 kilometres, out
of which 352 roads of length 7,991.98 kilometres are under maintenance only and
the balance roads are under construction/improvement to double lane. BRO is
also maintaining seven airfields besides snow clearance of 126 roads (4,800
kms) to ensure connectivity of border regions with rest of the country.
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)
Since the outbreak of the deadly
coronavirus in Wuhan, China, Indian Air Force, Army, Navy, working with the
Ministry of Defence, have proactively worked to evacuate Indian people from
some of the worst affected countries - China, Iran, Italy and Japan - and
quarantined them at their facilities to release after mandatory isolation
By Anil Bhat Apr 05, 2020
Since the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in Wuhan, China, Indian Air
Force, Army, Navy, working with the Ministry of Defence, have proactively worked
to evacuate Indian people from some of the worst affected countries - China,
Iran, Italy and Japan - and quarantined them at their facilities to release
after mandatory isolation.
From 1 February till 20 March 2020 the Air Force evacuated well over 1000
people (including five foreigners) and quarantined them at their
facilities/bases in Manesar (Haryana), Hindon (Uttar Pradesh), Ghatkopar
(Maharashtra), and Jaisalmer (Rajasthan).
As of 3 April 2020, the IAF, assisting in transportation of essential supplies,
medicines and medical equipment, has airlifted approximately 60 tonnes of
s-material to various parts of the country, with 28 fixed-wing and 21
helicopters on standby at various locations across the country.
Six naval ships are kept ready for assistance to neighbouring countries.
Five medical teams are also on standby for deployment in the Maldives, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan. Naval ships continue to
remain mission deployed during the COVID-19 crisis. \
Besides the Indian Navy has set up a quarantine camp at INS Vishwakarma
at Vishakhapatnam which is fully equipped to accommodate nearly 200 personnel.
Navy has also set up isolation facilities at its premier hospital INHS Asvini
at Mumbai. The naval base, Kochi under Southern Naval Command is gearing
up to provide quarantine facilities for Indian nationals. The SNC is also
actively coordinating with the Kerala state health officials and Ernakulam
district administration to explore the feasibility of provisioning civil hotels/resorts
for quarantining.
All Army Hospitals also have been kept on alert to meet any
eventuality.
On 26 March, consequent to the announcement of the 21-days national
lockdown, SNC took a slew of measures, in consultation with the state governments
and Naval Headquarters, aimed at a two-pronged strategy to counter the
contagion COVID-19, which is to be prepared and equipped to assist civil
society in its fight against the disease and concurrently to ensure insulation
of own personnel from infection as well as availability for all duties as
required.
Ten teams of BattleField Nursing Assistants (BFNA), comprising of
non-medical personnel, have been readied at Kochi, Kerala to help medical staff
should the situation become overwhelming. Such BFNA teams are being readied at
all other stations under SNC as well. Indian Navy has implemented 'stay
wherever you are, no travel' policy with regards to its personnel on leave or
temporary duty. SNC had prepared one of its training units at Kochi as the
Corona Care Centre (CCC) for 200 Indian citizens being airlifted by the
government from different parts of the world. A separate CCC facility for
another 200 service personnel and families has been created for any eventuality
affecting service personnel. The two facilities have been prepared as per
existing directives of requiring dedicated and isolated food, toilets, medical
waste management and recreational arrangements for 14 days. The CCC will be
administered by a dedicated group of officers and personnel and a separate
Medical Care Centre of Indian Navy doctors and nursing staff, who would conduct
the medical aspects of control of the patients. Medical protocols promulgated
by the Ministry of Health are being strictly adhered to. Special sanitization
drives of public areas and education of personnel including families is also
being undertaken.
Six quarantine facilities run by the Armed Forces are currently
operational at Manesar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Chennai, Hindon and Mumbai. So far
a total of 1,463 people, including foreigners, evacuated from COVID-19 affected
countries have been housed and observed at these centres. Of them, 1,073
persons are presently under quarantine and being provided proper care. These
include evacuees from Iran, Italy, Japan and Malaysia, besides the IAF and
medical crew. A total of 390 evacuees from China, Japan and IAF evacuation
flight crew have been discharged following completion of their mandatory
quarantine period.
In addition to the active quarantine centres, more facilities readied to
be made operational within 48-72 hours, if needed, are at Kolkata,
Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Dindigul near Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kanpur, Jaisalmer,
Jorhat and Gorakhpur.
Interacting with media on 27 March, Director General Armed Forces
Medical Services (AFMS), Lt Gen Anup Banerji, said 28 Service Hospitals have
been earmarked as COVID hospitals for managing purely coronavirus cases. This
will include Armed Forces as well as civilian patients transferred from state
health authorities, in case their capacity is overwhelmed. He added that, as of
now, there are five hospitals across Army, Navy and Air Force which can carry
out COVID tests. These include Army Hospital Research and Referral, Delhi;
Command Hospital Air Force, Bangalore; Armed Forces Medical College, Pune;
Command Hospital (Central Command) Lucknow; Command Hospital (Northern Command)
Udhampur. Six more hospitals are being equipped shortly with the resources to
begin testing. Lt Gen Banerji also informed that, as of now, only one serving
soldier has been tested positive of COVID-19. He was on leave at his home in
Leh, taking care of his father who had returned recently from Iran and
suffering from COVID. The soldier has recovered.
Banerji added that isolation wards at peripheral hospitals have been
activated at Army formations along Line of Control and Line of Actual Control
with Pakistan and China respectively. “Intensive information, education and
communication campaigns are going on for serving personnel. Leave extension of
those on leave as well as curtailment of leave to bare minimum have been
imposed. Segregation facilities have been set up to observe troops already back
from leave from various states,” he said.
A 14-member team of medical officers and paramedical staff of Army
Medical Corps was sent to the Maldives for capacity building measures and
assist in setting up their own testing, treatment and quarantine capacities.
The team stayed in the Maldives for 10 days and returned on March 23. Lt Gen
Banerji said, apart from the Maldives, AFMS is ready to dispatch a Rapid
Response Team to Nepal for assisting them with the COVID situation there. He
added that other assistance for other countries will be provided as and when
required.
On the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the DG AFMS
said, it is a challenge at national as well as global level, adding that
advisory for rational usage of PPE has been issued to the three services. “The
AFMS is presently geared up with adequate PPEs for use in our hospitals.
Additional procurement is also being planned to tide over crisis foreseen
during the coming weeks and months since the Armed Forces have been directed to
augment medical resources for the civil health set up also,” he added.
The AFMS has suggested setting up of medical facilities within train
coaches in case of emergency. Various advisories have been issued by AFMS on
social distancing, cancellation of courses and training, use of masks,
preventive measures to be taken at workplace and guidelines on COVID
surveillance and contact tracing.
Also on 27 March, a shipment of 60,000 face masks ordered by the Indian
Medical Association (IMA), Goa to offset the shortfall in Goa, was stuck at
Delhi as trucks could not proceed further in the current situation of lockdown.
A request for facilitating transportation of the masks to Goa was made by the
IMA president to the Indian Navy at Goa. Accordingly, an Ilyushin 38SD (IL-38),
a Long-Range Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft of the Indian Navy, was promptly
readied to depart INS Hansa for Palam Airport, New Delhi on 27 March. The
collection of the items at Delhi was coordinated by Air Force Station, Palam
and the aircraft returned to Goa with the masks the same day. On 1 April, Goa
Naval Area coordinated with the Councillor of Mangor Hill and distributed
critical supplies to families of daily wagers, migrant labourers and low-income
families at Gandhinagar. Around 1000 kg of essential provisions were
distributed to 200 families. Additionally, 600 kgs of provisions were handed
over to Goa’s Minister for Urban Development and Social Welfare Milind Naik for
distribution to families in need. Earlier, personnel of the Defence Security
Corps (DSC) and Indian Navy from INS Hansa had distributed food at several
locations in Vasco, Goa.
On March 28 it was reported that Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was
braving the COVID-19 threat to expedite construction of a bridge and undertake
snow clearance operations. They have been working relentlessly to completely
replace the Daporijo bridge (430 feet Multi-Span Bailey Bridge), the only
lifeline of Upper Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh, to restore lines of
communication for all 451 villages and security forces located along the China
border. The personnel of 23 BRTF (Border Roads Task Force) of Project Arunank
are, on special request from the local administration, working in full swing in
spite of the dilapidated state of the existing bridge.
Meanwhile, in Northern India, BRO is presently engaged in snow-clearance
operations on the Manali-Leh axis, day and night despite inclement weather and
COVID 19 threat to provide relief to Lahaul valley and Ladakh in an earlier
time frame. Presently Rohtang Pass and Baralachala Pass are being tackled by
four snow clearance teams. This is the first time, BRO personnel were inducted
by air to Sarchu to carry out snow clearance of the mighty Baralachala Pass.
On 01 and 02 April, IAF airlifted essential medical supplies and
commodities from nodal points to Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Mohanbari in Assam;
Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Bareilly and Agra in the Central region; and the Union
Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which has been
tracking the spread of COVID-19 since the world media started reporting its
devastating impact in China’s Wuhan Province, took a call in the first week of
March 2020 to enhance efforts to create countermeasures to stop the spread of
the disease in India. DRDO started focusing on creating mass supply solutions
of critical medical requirements and, by the end of March, it became ready with
four different items – hand sanitizers, ventilators, facial masks and
bodysuits. DRDO is also ready with technologies for sanitising areas of
different sizes. The Centre for Fire Explosive & Environment Safety
(CFEES), Delhi has developed two configurations of sanitising equipment.
National Cadet Corps (NCC) has offered a helping hand to civilian
authorities in the country’s fight against COVID-19 by extending the services
of its cadets nationwide. The tasks envisaged for NCC cadets include, manning
of helpline/call centres; distribution of relief materials/medicines/
food/essential commodities; community assistance; data management and queue
& traffic management.
Ex-servicemen (ESM) across the country have also risen to the occasion.
In Punjab, an organisation called Guardians of Governance, comprising 4,200
ESMs, are assisting in data collection from all the villages. Chhattisgarh
government has employed some ESM to assist police. In Andhra Pradesh all the
District Collectors have asked for ESM volunteers. Sainik Rest Houses are
being readied in Uttarakhand to act as isolation/quarantine centres if need
arises.
(The author, a strategic analyst and former Defence Ministry and Indian
Army spokesperson, can be contacted at wordsword02@gmail.com)
