The national transporter will manufacture over 1 lakh washable face masks.

Indian Railways to make washable face masks! As wearing masks have been made mandatory for public places and at work, the national transporter will manufacture over 1 lakh washable face masks using the cloth material that is used to produce bright orange uniform worn by railway trackmen, as well as the plain white uniform worn by other railway employees. According to an IE report, the Northern Railway zone, which has been leading the charge in making things to fight the novel coronavirus such as isolation coaches, hand sanitisers and PPE coverall suits has issued instructions to manufacture the masks from the cloth with the material meant for the uniform of railwaymen. Each mask produced by the railways will cost Rs 5.94, on the other hand, the same quality mask in the market costs approximately Rs 7.50.

According to the report, 5,000 meters of surplus cloth that was meant for orange and white uniforms have been identified by the workshops, lying idle for some time. As per the calculations of engineers, over 1 lakh masks can be yielded in no time and can be supplied across the country for its various units on demand. The idea of manufacturing masks using the surplus cloth came while stitching masks in Indian Railways’ 150-year-old workshops in Lucknow’s Charbagh and Alambagh area.

Before starting the production, the mask designs that are available in the market were studied and in consultation with railway hospitals, a design was finalized. According to officials, the basic requirement has been ensured i.e., full covering of the nose and mouth, correct tension of elastic, etc.

To prevent COVID-19 from spreading, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been promoting homemade masks. He recently tweeted stating that one of the most important tasks is to be a part of #TeamMaskForce. He further said that small but necessary precautions can keep everyone safe from the coronavirus infection while endorsing the wearing of masks.

So far, one lot has already been supplied to the railway hospitals as well as other workshops. In the national capital, Railway staff colonies have placed an order on payment basis. Till now, the Northern Railway zone alone has manufactured around 31,000 masks from various sources during the whole period of nationwide lockdown, the report added.