A CORRESPONDENT
TEZPUR: Defence Research Laboratory (DRL), a premier laboratory of DRDO located in Tezpur, has contributed significantly by carrying out internal sanitization activity in various army and civil establishments to combat COVID-19 pandemic in Sonitpur district.
Soon after the announcement of countrywide lockdown 1.0 due to the COVID-19 pandemic Dr. Sanjai Kumar Dwivedi, Director, DRL, constituted DRL COVID-19 sanitization team comprising of Ashok Naglot, Scientist 'D', Vijay Pal, Senior Technical Assistant 'B' and Nipujyoti Kalita, Technician 'C' (Photographer) to carry out the internal disinfectant activity with the WHO recommended disinfectants in various government departments which approached DRL for conducting sanitization activity in their respective premises.
On the request of General Manager, State Bank of India, Regional Business Office, Tezpur to sanitize various SBI branches and ATMs within the vicinity of Tezpur, DRL COVID-19 sanitization team recently carried out rigorous internal sanitization process of nine SBI branches, including SBI Mission Chariali, SBI RBO, SBI Tezpur Bazar, SBI Chandmari Tezpur, SBI Balipara, SBI Rangapara, SBI Khelmati, SBI Teligaon and SBI Tezpur Medical College, and 15 SBI ATMs. The DRL team mainly focussed on disinfection of the internal areas including entry gates/channels, locks, working tables of the employees, cash/cheque withdrawal and deposit counters, enquiry counters, lockers for keeping files, desktop computer key pads, public sitting chairs, railing of stairs, doors nobs, slabs/racks for keeping files, in-house canteen/dining facilities, guard rooms, main shutter gates, ATM entry gates and ATM key pads of the respective of the SBI branches. The DRL team also advised bank officials to use sponge cups saturated with alcohol based sanitizer while dealing with files and cash to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection. In addition, the team also recommended the officials to keep disinfectant saturated carpet/jute mat at the entry point for sanitization of shoes sole while entering the office premises.
The DRL COVID-19 sanitization team also suggested the bank managers of respective branches to sanitize their internal areas every evening after the office hours to mitigate COVID-19 spread.