Wash your hands with soap andwater for 20 seconds and the sneaky coronavirus will be hosed down the drain.Television these days is full of cheeky advertisements which carry dire warnings about the invisible enemy of mankind which can destroy you if you don't.But how do you count those 20 seconds? The answer is you don't, the dispenser kept by your sink will do it for you.The Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) in West Bengal's Durgapur has developed a contactless soap-cum-water dispensing unit that will help people wash their hands properly without having to count those seconds in mind or turning their hand to look at a timepiece.The dispenser has sensors that get activated when in close proximity to objects.It dispenses both liquid soap and water from the same outlet with a time lag of 20 seconds, Harish Hirani, the Director of CMERI, which functions under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), said."The 20 second timer is a game-changer, as it ensures that the user is compelled to rub his or her hands for the requisite time span as per standard hygiene guidelines. Our technology is based on intensive research and ergonomic demands," he said.The device can be deployed at various locations like hospitals, shopping malls, banks, stadiums and sports complexes, he said.CSIR-CMERI has also developed products such as soaps and hand sanitisers that strictly adhere to the WHO guidelines.Hirani handed over one such dispense and 50 bottles of hand sanitisers to the chief terminal manager of Indian Oil Corporation Limited's Rajbandh facility in West Burdwan district on Wednesday.The liquid hand sanitiser contains 75 per cent alcohol and is effective against most bacteria and viruses without water, a spokesman for the institute said.
