Vizag Diesel Loco Shed develops remote-controlled room disinfection device

The Diesel Loco Shed of the Waltair Division, Vizag has been fabricating several instruments to combat the global pandemic. In the latest, employees at Diesel Loco Shed, Vizag, have developed a remote-controlled room disinfection device.

Considering the necessity to sanitise, the loco shed has manufactured the remote-controlled Ultraviolet C (UVC) based room sanitiser was fabricated with the in-house resources like condemned pedestal fan stand and UVC lamps along with a remote-control unit. The equipment which works with the latest Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation technology has been fitted with wheels for ease of movement. The remote control of the device can be operated from as far as 30 metres from the equipment.

The room disinfection device by Diesel Loco Shed, Vizag, can effectively sanitise a room size of 400 square feet within 30 minutes. For smaller rooms, 15-minute operations would suffice. This radiation is strongly absorbed by Ribonucleic acid (RNA) and Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) bases leading to molecular structural damage via a photodimerization process, which results in deactivating the virus.

These instruments have been fabricated under the guidance of Divisional Railway Manager, Waltair Division, Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, and monitored by Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer (Diesel), SK Patro. Two of these room disinfection devices have already been installed at Vizag DRM Office and Divisional Railway Hospital.

Being one of the largest diesel sheds of the Indian Railways, the loco shed had previously manufactured currency sanitisers, paper/ file sanitisers, masks, thousand of litres of hand sanitiser for railway staff, Sanitising Tunnel, leg operated (hands-free) hand wash booths, sensor-based hand sanitiser dispensers, and other equipment to fight the coronavirus.