Bengaluru,  The South Western Railway (SWR) zone has chipped in with 7,295 masks and 1,200 litres of hand sanitizer to meeting the shortage amid Covid pandemic, an official said on Monday.

"Due to the increase in demand for essential medical commodities, Railways has taken for in-house production of sanitiser and making masks in-house to deal with the crisis at hand during the lockdown," said a SWR spokesperson.

SWR is preparing the hand sanitizer following the World Health Organisation's (WHO) formula, using surgical spirit, aloe vera gel, glycerol and scent.

"At the stitching and furbishing section of the workshops, face masks are being made. These masks are being made using cotton cloth with bands for adjustments," said the statement.

The railway zone's Hubballi Division produced 450 masks and 220 litres sanitizer, Hubballi Workshop, 1,225 masks and 400 litres, Bengaluru Division, 3,000 masks and 300 litres, the Mysuru Workshop, 2,100 masks and 280 litres sanitizer and Mysuru Division 520 masks.