Anant National University sets up their 10th Covid-19 recovery facility in Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram: Anant National University of design, Ahmedabad, in partnership with the Government of Kerala and the Parliamentarians with Innovators for India (PI India), has successfully set up their 10th COVID-19 recovery facility in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, in collaboration with Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Anil Anthony, and Cisco.

Led by Dr. Miniya Chatterji, Director of the Anant Centre for Sustainability and CEO Sustain Labs Paris, Anant National University has established 10 Anant COVID recovery facilities of a total of 1620 beds across 5 states in India, besides designing and manufacturing the first-of-its-kind Anant COVID testing facilities and oxygen ambulances inside auto rickshaws. All the Anant COVID recovery facilities, Anant COVID Testing and Anant Oxygen Response Auto-rickshaws are being run by government agencies across India. AnantU is thus providing highly affordable, scalable, and sustainable solutions by mobilizing its in-house designers, urban planning innovators, faculty and students to help India strengthen its defence in this pandemic.

AnantU received an educational grant from Godrej Consumer Products Limited for the R&D for the Anant COVID Testing Auto-rickshaws and Anant Oxygen Response Auto-rickshaws. Other partners for setting up the Anant COVID recovery facilities have included Bharti Airtel, Murli Deora Foundation, NGO Caring Friends, and the Population Foundation of India.
The 10th Anant COVID recovery facility is located in a large conference hall at the Panchkarma Ayurveda Institute in Thiruvananthapuram. The team has set up a 30-bed recovery facility (phase 1 of a 100-bed project) to treat patients with moderate symptoms of COVID-19. Besides the medical equipment, the facility has laminated corrugated cardboard beds and tables that have been designed and manufactured by AnantU, which are highly affordable and durable.

The centre has been handed over to the District Medical Officer, Thiruvananthapuram, for managing the operations. Along with the several partners, the project is executed by Dr. Miniya Chatterji, who is the Director of Anant Fellowship for Climate Action by Anant National University, the first of its kind Fellowship in India. The Anant Fellowship for Climate Action is a highly-coveted one-year immersive programme for 20 fellows each year to create a community of climate change trailblazers who work together and cross-pollinate each other’s work with ideas and expertise.

Elaborating on the successful run of the project by AnantU in Kerala, Miniya Chatterji, Director, Centre for Sustainability, Anant National University, and CEO, Sustain Labs Paris said, “It was especially difficult to set up our 10th COVID recovery facility amidst the swiftly growing number of cases in Kerala. We were able to overcome all challenges due to the exemplary team effort between AnantU, PI India, and Dr. Shashi Tharoor’s team. We are grateful to Cisco for funding this facility.”

Dr. Anunaya Chaubey, Provost at Anant National University, said "Throughout this pandemic, AnantU has responded fast with answers: visors, recovery spaces, eco-friendly cardboard beds, oxygen ambulances and awareness posters for prevention and treatment. To combat COVID-19 crisis in Kerala, we are continuing our support by building well-furnished recovery spaces, an initiative that has emerged from the institute's focus on design thinking for problem-solving. We are grateful to our partners who have lauded our efforts and continue to show faith in our abilities."

In a  span of 5 months, Anant National University has set up a total of 1620 beds catering to patients with mild to moderate symptoms, in Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, Rajkot, Delhi, Bangalore. With a capacity to produce over 500 beds a day, the University is supplying laminated corrugated cardboard beds, tables, room separators to all its facilities that bring down the cost of the set up. 1 Anant COVID Testing Auto-rickshaw is being operated in Mumbai by BMC, and 5 Anant Oxygen Response Auto-rickshaws are being run by BMC in Mumbai as well as by Civil Hospital Rajkot.

AnantU continues to scale this project, by partnering with governments and the private sector to set up Anant COVID recovery facilities and running Anant COVID Testing Auto-rickshaws, and Anant Oxygen Response Auto-rickshaws rapidly across the country.