Coronavirus: IIT Guwahati designs low-cost bamboo furniture for health care centres

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati has announced that a team at the institute has developed a bamboo furniture range for the hospital, to meet the demands arising due to hospitalization of more people if the number of coronavirus cases increases.

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati has developed a bamboo furniture range for the hospital, to meet the demands arising due to hospitalization of more people if the number of coronavirus cases increases.

The design idea was pitched by a team of IIT Guwahati's design department to the authorities and explained that the furniture can be used at primary health centres and makeshift isolation wards that have been set up in places like indoor stadiums. The furniture can be discarded once the virus has been contained.

Over 200 beds can be manufactured every day using this design, Professor Ravi Mokashi Punekar, IIT Gandhinagar, Department of Design.

"Bamboo craft forms an important economic driver in the northeast region of India. However, for a craft that is so prevalent in the region, its effective utilisation for public community facilities like health centres in rural areas was limited and this particular project demonstrated the potential," Punekar said.

"This hospital furniture range is an appropriate and sustainable solution to meet the local infrastructure needs using bamboo and cane available in the region. This will also create job opportunities for craft-persons too," he added.

The institute is in discussion with two local entrepreneurs and they have agreed to manufacture the furniture. The designs have also been shared with Guwahati Medical Hospital.

To help the country in its fight against coronavirus, several IITs, and other educational institutions are coming forward with new innovations and projects. These innovations are done with an aim to keep the frontline healthcare workers safe who they are attending coronavirus patients.  

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