A specially-designed floating laboratory to test blood sugar levels, a project of HLL Lifecare Ltd, will set sail from the Punnamada Lake shores in Alappuzha district on Tuesday.

The floating lab will call at specified stations along the banks of the famed backwaters of Kuttanad, known as the State's granary but which lies below sea level, an HLL spokesman said here on Tuesday.

Sugar Testing And Review Boat (STAR Boat) will offer free blood sugar tests to the residents of Kainakary, Kuppapuram, Kavalam and Kuttamangalam.

The HLL Lifecare initiative comes close on the heels of a successful campaign using a van, STAR on Wheels, in Thiruvananthapuram in June in the first phase.

The van will tour more places of the State in subsequent phases.

STAR Boat was flagged off at Punnamada on August 13, the day of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race, by the Minister of State for Power, Mr K.C. Venugopal.

As many as 4,000 people have since taken blood sugar levels test. The tests are administered free on the request of the Minister who was the first one to undergo the test on the boat.

The HLL Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Mr M. Ayyappan, described this as an initiative to spread awareness about diabetes and help people check their blood glucose levels.

Star Boat is equipped with kits and technicians and will ferry around backwater locations reaching out to those isolated by water bodies. The technicians will provide patient guidance and distribute leaflets.

India, the world's second most populous country, has more than 50 million Type-2 diabetic patients, which is more than any other country, the spokesman said.

The condition becomes alarming as diabetic patients are at a high risk of contracting heart attack, kidney disease, nerve damage and eye disease.

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