New Delhi (NVI): From setting up isolation wards to building ventialtors, various Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) have played an active part in assisting civil administration in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
These vital institutions have channelised all their resources, technical knowhow and manpower to help the nation mitigate the deadly virus.
Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence have been fundamental to combat the coronavirus contagion.
Following are some of the fruits of the efforts put in by scientists and personnel of DPSUs and OFB:
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Bengaluru, a Defence PSU, has set up isolation ward facility with three beds in Intensive Care Unit and 30 beds in wards. In addition to this, a building having 30 rooms has been readied. 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.
Meanwhile, Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL) has come forward on the directions of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW) to manufacture and supply 30,000 ventilators within two months for ICUs in the country.
Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) is developing a prototype of ventilator which is likely to be tested and certified by May before it starts of with manufacturing. It is working on this project with the help of a private start-up of Pune.
In addition to this, Ordnance Factory Board, which heads 40 Ordnance Factories in the country, has started supply of coveralls conforming to ISO Class 3 exposure standards. Manufacture of initial order of 1.10 lakh from HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL) is in full swing.
Five Ordnance Equipment Group of factories located at Kanpur, Shahjahanpur, Hazratpur (Firozabad) and Chennai are engaged in manufacturing of coveralls. 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.
OFB has also manufactured 5,870 PPEs which have been distributed to HLL, CMO, Firozabad, besides its own hospitals in Ordnance Factories.
Factories Board has also developed special two-metre tents which can be used for medical emergency, screening, hospital triage and quarantine purposes. These are made up of waterproof fabric, mild steel and aluminium alloy. Supplies have already started.
