In its fight against COVID-19, the Western Railway (WR) is making around 200 to 225 coveralls every day at its workshop in Lower Parel.
These coveralls, which are a part of the personal protective equipment (PPE), will be used by frontline healthcare workers battling the novel coronavirus outbreak.
As of now, the WR has manufactured over 1,000 coveralls. Ravinder Bhakar, WR spokesperson, said, “We started production last week and we have so far made 1,050 coveralls and shoe covers for the frontline staff at Jagjivan Ram Hospital (JRH). The workshop in Mahalaxmi is gearing up to start manufacturing. Soon, we should be able to produce another 200 coveralls and shoe covers daily from there as well.”
JRH is the only railway hospital in the country dedicated to COVID-19. The 172-bed hospital is currently treating 80 patients, of which 60 are non-railway employees. Due to an acute shortage of PPEs, the Railways in the first week of April had formalised specifications developed by Jagadhari workshop under the Northern Railways. All railway zones in the country were asked to ramp up production to achieve the target of 1,000 coveralls a day.
The coveralls and shoe covers are being manufactured under quality control as per standards prescribed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Special fabric has been approved by the South India Textile Research Association.