COVID-19 Outbreak: IIT Ropar's Sanitizing Trunk That Kills Microbes Using UV Radiation To Be Available At Rs 500

To help people maintain hygiene amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar has developed a UV-ray trunk which is claimed to sanitize items like groceries, electronic equipment, currency etc using UV radiation.

"The fight against corona pandemic, will not end just with social distancing and not stepping out. In coming days and weeks, it will be extremely important to be cautious with everything possible," India Today quoted Naresh Rakha, Senior Scientific Officer at IIT Ropar, as telling PTI.

The trunk-shaped device, which is fitted with ultraviolet germicidal irradiation technology, takes only 30 minutes to sanitize anything that is put inside it and costs only ₹500. Before the items are taken out of the device, they should be kept inside for 10 minutes to cool (after the main 30 minutes).

"Right now there are many who wash vegetables with warm water before using but the same cannot be done with currency notes or wallets. So we have developed a common sanitising solution for everything," he explained.

Rakah said the device is based on ultraviolet germicidal irradiation technology used in water purifiers. It uses UVC radiation which is high energy wavelength light that particularly kills the genetic material whether it is human or virus. "We strongly advise not to look directly at the light inside the trunk as it can be harmful," Rakha said. In Shanghai, China, UVC light was used to sanitize buses using a tunnel.

Congratulating the institute, Union HRD Minister for Communications and Electronics & IT Sanjay Dhotre tweeted about the trunk.

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