COVID-19: NEHU invents novel sanitisation device to disinfect books

Shillong: With the higher-level classes beginning to resume across India, a team of innovators from the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) has developed a book sanitisation machine to deal with COVID-19 infections, officials said.

This timely invention was developed by a team of innovators of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Basic Sciences and Social Sciences of the NEHU.

According to Dr. Aseem Sinha, one of the members of the product development team, the sanitising machine functions in an auto-controlled mode to sanitise all kinds of reading materials without causing any kind of damage to the material.

The book sanitisation machine reportedly uses ultraviolet (UV) rays and heat technology to sanitise books; it can reportedly sanitise up to 150 books in one cycle of about 45 minutes. Most importantly, it is dirt cheap -- sanitization of a single book will cost only 20 paise.

Inaugurating the book sanitising machine at the central library of the university on Wednesday, NEHU Vice-Chancellor SK Srivastava said that the development of such a sanitising machine was "a fantastic fusion of library, a place to provide knowledge, and the School of Technology, the place to convert that knowledge into the means for social benefit." Srivastava also came up with a name for the innovative machine: 'ABSCoM'

Meanwhile, training is being imparted to the library staff to be able to operate the the new addition, officials said.

NEHU Librarian In-charge Dr F R Sumer said that the need for such a machine was felt around two months ago after the advent of the corona and the surge in the number of cases in the Northeast Indian region.

The idea behind inventing this machine is to ensure a "corona-free environment" in the University library for use of the books that are under circulation, he added.

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