Numaligarh Refinery Ltd is doing its best in its own way to safeguard the community during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A senior NRL official said it has involved 35 local tailors from Letekujan, Purabangla, Owguri, and Labanghat areas to manufacture masks.

“This is an initiative to aid the community safeguarding efforts during the crisis,” the official said.

Shortage of face masks and sanitisers has become a stark reality with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and people are making long queues to get one with demand outstripping supply.

The office of the government’s principal scientific adviser on Tuesday issued a detailed manual to prepare homemade masks using easily available items like old vests, t-shirts and handkerchiefs, stressing that they are 70 per cent effective in curbing the spread of coronavirus.

Masks lower the chances of coronavirus entering the respiratory system through droplets left in the air from an infected person.

“With cloth, needles and associated raw materials supplied by NRL, the tailors have achieved a production level of 450 masks a day. Efforts are on to enhance production to 1,000 masks a day and contribute to the much-needed supply,” the official said.

“We have set a target of 10,000 masks to be produced within a fortnight. As of now we are making 450 per day which will be scaled up slowly. The NRL will try to supplement requirements of hospitals and medical facilities,” the official said.

“The tailors are from the locality surrounding the refinery, mainly from Letekujan, Purabangla, Labanghat and Owguri. The material will be supplied by us,” he added.

The official said these women have been trained and engaged in stitching boiler suits for NRL plant employees and have now been assigned the present job, adding to their skill diversification.

“Of the 35, some are new tailors who were not engaged in boiler suit stitching,” the official said.

“The masks do not conform to any standards and NRL is pitching in with the motto that something is better than nothing. It is not for commercial sale till now.”