Delhi: MCD to intensify anti-mosquito spraying drive, use drones

Special 136-member team targets relief camps, spraying and fogging to curb post-flood vector-borne disease spread in low-lying Yamuna belt.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is set to intensify the anti-mosquito larvicides spraying drive in areas affected by the recent floods in the city, senior corporation officials said on Sunday.

Corporation data shows 264 malaria, 557 dengue, 42 chikungunya cases confirmed till Sept 6, with relief camps also under sanitisation drive. (HT Archive)

“The low lying and recently flooded areas are more prone to vector borne diseases due to waterlogging. Many of these areas are inaccessible or still full of silt and mud left behind by flood water. We have decided to take the help of drones so that people do not fall prey to mosquito borne diseases,” official said. Earlier, the corporation had also used drones for sanitisation at some places as a trial during the Covid pandemic.

A senior MCD official said that in areas like Garhi Mandu, Usmanpur to Jaitpur Ashok Nagar, Sonia Vihar, people live on the banks of Yamuna and were shifted to relief camps due to rising water level of Yamuna during the heavy rain spells. A separate drive has been undertaken at the relief camps, officials added.

According to an MCD official, a special team of 136 employees has been deployed to prevent mosquito-borne diseases in the flood-affected areas. So far, anti-mosquito drugs have been sprayed at 1,346 places, fogging has been carried out in 4,329 flood-affected houses. According to the corporation’s report on mosquito borne disease till September 6, 264 malaria cases, 557 dengue and 42 chikungunya cases have been confirmed in Delhi.