By now, you must have heard about how some people, in the midst of pandemic panic, are hoarding supplies. From chemists running out of hand sanitisers to fake sanitiser companies being busted, the madness doesn’t seem to stop. Sanitiser sales are at an all-time high but sadly, this unprecedented demand is not being met with adequate supplies.
Well, IIT Delhi went ahead and found their own solution to the problem. They made their own sanitiser!
Taking to Facebook, director Ramgopal Rao wrote about how the supply of hand sanitiser in IIT Delhi was dropping with every passing day and may sellers were charging exorbitant amounts for it. Rao then teamed up with a colleague and viola! They now have their own sanitiser available at very economical rates.
On Facebook, Rao wrote:
“A True Story. At IIT Delhi, we were facing issues getting Hand sanitizers in large quantities. Even when they were available, vendors were charging exorbitant amounts and quality was suspect. Out of frustration, I told one of our Chemistry professors, why don't you guys prepare them in IIT, why is it such a big deal? He replied, for such a small thing, you don't need an IIT Professor, it can be done by our technical staff. Lo and behold, in flat two days, we have 50 litres of hand sanitizers meeting WHO standard (certified by IIT Profs). All at a negligible price.
Head, Chemistry sent an email to all other departments saying anyone who needs them, can come and collect. That is the 'spirit' needed to fight Corona.....
Proud of our staff. Kudos to J P Singh, Technical Superintendent and Rajbir Singh, Junior Lab Assistant, Chemistry Department at IIT Delhi.”
The official Twitter account of IIT Delhi also took to Twitter to talk about the innovation.
“The Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi has prepared alcohol based hand sanitizer, which has been prescribed by WHO for destroying coronavirus and its spores from surfaces and hand for use by the campus community.”
“Formulation contains 3 chemicals along with Aloe Vera & major component is isopropyl alcohol (around 75%). 'Alcohol rub sanitizers containing at least 70% alcohol are known to kill micro-organisms on hands within 30s to one minute after application'-Dr Anil Elias, HoD, Chemistry.”
Soon, users on Twitter started asking how they could get their hands on this desi sanitiser.
Now, this is the kind of initiative the country needs in the middle of pandemic!
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