THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A group of employees of the Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station’s Coaching Depot has come up with a unique foot-operated handwashing kiosk as part of the Break the Chain campaign. Unlike the conventional tap, people will be able to wash hands without touching the tap. The kiosk is attached to two separate pedals to dispense handwash and water.
The contactless handwash system has brought instant recognition to the staff of the Accident Relief Toolvan (ART) under the Coaching Depot. The video of the kiosk is doing the rounds online and was tweeted by Railways Minister Piyush Goyal.
“There was a direction from the Indian Railways to every division to come up with innovative measures to join the Break the Chain campaign,” an official told TNIE.“The employees work in the mechanical wing and they made the kiosk in a day. The entire Coaching Depot staff are now using it.”At the railway station, most water taps have buttons that need to be pushed to get water.
“It’s impossible to wash hands properly using that as one hand would be used to operate it. The Covid-19 threat prompted the team to come up with such a design,” said the official.
According to the Railways authorities, the newly designed handwashing kiosks will also help save water.
“We have to keep our foot on the pedal to get water and, once we release the pedal, water will stop. The other pedal is attached to the handwash dispenser,” the official added.There are around 350 employees at the Coaching Depot. But because of the lockdown, only the essential staff are coming to work at the railway station.