Northern Railway makes 1,500 PPE in a day, produces 10,000 since lockdown

With the production of a record 1,500 personal protective equipment (PPE) on Sunday, Northern Railway workshops have made 10,000 such essential life-saving gear for its doctors and paramedics since the nationwide lockdown began, officials said.

In a bid to meet the demand for PPE, the Northern Railway earlier this month got approval to make such coveralls from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

PPE suits are required by the medical staff while treating COVID-19 patients as a measure to avoid direct contact.

Personal protective equipment manufactured by Jagadhri railway workshop passed the test conducted by the DRDO on April 5 and has made 6,472 coveralls along with Kalka workshop till date.

The achievement becomes significant as the Northern Railway has produced 10,000 such coveralls, while all the other zonal railways together made 20,000 during the ongoing lockdown period.

The Indian Railways has planned to manufacture 1.30 lakh PPEs at its workshops across the country by May-end.

Northern Railway workshops have also produced 5,917 litres of sanitisers, 46,373 masks and converted 540 coaches into isolation wards during the lockdown period.