Indian Army soldiers are bravely fighting aggression and safeguarding the borders in the hostile and uninhabited mountains of the North— Pakistan in the West and China in the East. But have you ever wondered the hardships that an ordinary soldier has to endure in vegetation-less regions such as the Siachen glacier, one of the world’s most inhospitable regions where temperature hovers around minus 40 degree Centigrade? Soldiers brought down to base camp often suffer hearing, eyesight and memory loss because of prolonged use of oxygen masks. Many lose eyes, hands or feet to frostbite. State-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has undertaken some unique initiatives in recent months to make the life easy for the soldiers manning the frontiers. As part of its efforts to provide troops with “enriched environment” at isolated locations, the state-owned research and development agency is working on ‘Project Dhruv’ to develop new bunkers to tackle various forms of psychological issues and depression among them. “Basically, the project is aimed at environment enrichment within the shelter. This is one of the components for removing a soldier’s stress in such isolated and forward areas,” DRDO chief controller, life sciences W Selvamurthy says. Such measures will help the soldiers cope with the stress induced by their monotonous surroundings and help in creating a lively atmosphere within the bunkers. “How do we create an ambiance which will make it more pleasant and in turn will relieve the stress. Like perching of birds or sounds of the waves of a sea; we are doing an experiment on these to simulate them in a bunker,” the DRDO scientist reveals. Delhi-based Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) has been tasked to develop the necessary technology and conduct researches in a time-bound manner. The bunkers will also be equipped with modern amenities to ensure a better living for the soldiers. Such shelters will have their own bio-digester facility to dispose off human waste and will have equipments to take care of altitude sickness and breathing problems faced by troops at high mountains. Bio Digester is an innovative technology developed by DRDO to solve the problem faced by the soldiers in high altitudes. It has been adapted successfully for use at all terrains—be it plains, deserts, marshy lands or other temperate zones. It has been developed by Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior and Defence Research Laboratory (DRL), Tezpur, two constituent laboratories under DRDO. The innovation degrades and converts the human waste into usable water and gas in an eco-friendly manner. The Indian Army is on a “Green Siachen, Clean Siachen” campaign to airlift the garbage from the glacier, and to use biodigestors for biodegradable waste in the absence of oxygen and freezing temperatures. Scientists at DRDO are also working to produce a bacteria that can dwell in extreme weather conditions and can be helpful in decomposing the biodegradable waste naturally. Life in the trenches can be tough, but modern technology can certainly make it easy.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 04:42:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015