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Covid-19: Railways offers its units to manufacture medical equipment
The availability of ventilators will be a key determinant in India’s success to keep the mortality rate of Covid-19 patients down, should community transmission sets in.
Indian Railways has offered its large manufacturing and locomotive production units and workshops for manufacturing essential medical equipment such as ventilators, hospital beds, and stretchers, among others, on a war-footing.
“The epidemic of Covid-19 has gripped the country. In this dire situation the manufacturing capabilities of Indian Railways may be needed to be harnessed in order to combat this scourge,” said a letter written by the Railway Board, a copy of which has been reviewed by HT.
The availability of ventilators will be a key determinant in India’s success to keep the mortality rate of Covid-19 patients down, should community transmission sets in.
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“In the wake of pandemic Covid-19, the Ministry of Railways, in consultation with Production Units & Zonal Railway workshops, has decided to use the manufacturing facilities of its Production Units such as Chittaranjan Loco Works, Chittaranjan, Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, Rail Coach Factory, Kaapurthala, Diesel Loco Works, Varanasi, Rail Wheel Factory, Yelehanka to manufacture essential items which can be utilised for the treatment of affected people by this pandemic,” a railway ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
India needs around 2.1 ventilators per 10,000 patients to battle the Covid-19 outbreak, according to medical experts.
On March 21, a panel of senior scientists cleared an industry proposal to ramp up production of ventilators in the country to minimise shortages in the context of an increasing number of people testing positive for the Sar-CoV-2 virus, which causes the Covid-19 infection.
Earlier, HT had reported that there are over 4,000 ventilators across the country.
The Railway Board, the apex planning body of the national transporter, has asked production units and workshops to assess the feasibility to manufacture these items in large quantities, as may be required, at a short notice.
“It is noted that the manufacturing facilities available in Indian Railways’ production units and zonal railway workshops can be utilised for manufacture of items such as simple hospital beds, medical trolleys for hospitals, and quarantine facilities, intravenous stands, stretchers, hospital bedside lockers, wash-basins with stands, ventilators, PPEs [Personal Protective Equipment] like masks, sanitisers, water tanks, etc. Other items like sheet metal fabrication work, welding, and machining can also be manufactured in these facilities based on an urgent requirement,” the letter said.
The rail authorities have also stepped up their efforts in supplying essential commodities during the pan-India lockdown till March 31. At present, 32 states and Union Territories have imposed a complete lockdown. Two more have announced they would do so from Wednesday.
The national transporter is ensuring the operation of goods trains for supplying commodities such as food grains, coal, milk and vegetables among others.
“This is to ensure that essential services do not get disrupted at any cost and the nation keeps moving ahead. We clearly understand our responsibility for the next few months,” the India railways said. The authorities have decided to slash freight charges during the lockdown period even as the frequency of freight trains is down by nearly 32% from last year.
“During the situation of lockdown in various states, the rail staff deployed at various good sheds, stations and control offices is working on a 24/7 basis to ensure that the supply of essential items for the nation does not get affected,” it added.
The railways’ mammoth 166-year-old-network ferrying 22 million passengers across over 13,000 trains daily came to a standstill on Monday. According to data reviewed by HT, the rail authorities have suffered losses worth Rs 1.421 crore this month till Monday.
