Hyderabad: Drones pressed into action to address mosquito menace in lakes

Hyderabad: Intensifying the fight against vector-borne diseases, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has pressed into service six drones. These machines are presently being used to spray chemicals in 39 lakes and control mosquito larvae and similar measures were being planned to be taken up in 20 more water bodies. Earlier, the civic body was […]

Hyderabad: Intensifying the fight against vector-borne diseases, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has pressed into service six drones. These machines are presently being used to spray chemicals in 39 lakes and control mosquito larvae and similar measures were being planned to be taken up in 20 more water bodies.

Earlier, the civic body was spraying chemicals in the water bodies as part of mosquito control by deploying field workers. However, the exercise faced several issues in the course of execution.

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According to the GHMC, accessing all parts of the lake was becoming difficult and water hyacinth was the major obstacle during the manual exercise. These challenges were in addition to the risk involved for staffers who had to enter the lake.

Owing to the above factors and due to challenges faced on the ground, the idea of using drones to spray larvicides was worked out, officials said. “These machines are time saving, with an acre of spraying hardly taking about 10 minutes,” said GHMC Chief Entomologist Ram Babu.

The other benefits of this technology used to spray chemicals also include easy access to all parts of the lake, better reach despite the presence of water hyacinth, effective and uniform coverage across the water body and cost saving.

In addition to deploying drones, GHMC is implementing a comprehensive Vector Borne Disease Control programme. As a part of this, the civic body is incorporating technology using Internet of Things (IOT) devices for real-time monitoring of mosquito population in water bodies and other breeding sites.

The mosquito population data collected under the programme will be used for forecasting the outbreak of vector-borne diseases.

The other innovative technology adopted to tackle mosquito menace is installation of six mosquito trap machines in different parts of the city. These machines were installed for identification of mosquito density and species and based on the data collected, InformatIon, Education and communication (IEC) campaigns, measures to curb adult mosquitoes and Anti Larval Operations (ALOs) were being taken up, officials added.

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