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Disinfectants Spraying: Drones not much of use, say officials
Say drones are basically used to reach inaccessible areas for anti-larvae ops
Hyderabad: Amid the pandemic scare, the state government and various agencies have been doing their best to control the spread of Covid-19 in the city.
Though drone spraying is taking place at several places in the state, such as Warangal, Nizamabad and Mahabubnagar, officials in the city seem not in favour of it yet for spraying disinfectants.
According to officials, drone spraying can be done in places where a person cannot reach but the purpose of Covid spraying is to disinfect the place where there is possibility of human contact. Drones are effective for anti-larvae operations in water bodies and nalas, but not for waging the battle against Covid.
Giving an instance of drone spraying, Prem Kumar Vislawath, founder of Marut Dronetech said, "It was in Mukarampura area of Karimnagar that 10 Indonesians and others tested positive for COVID-19 so the Marut COVID19 drones were used to survey these and other 'red zones' and spray disinfectants too, as per the orders of the Karimnagar municipal corporation."
Quoting specifications, he added, "We need to increase the tank capacity. 10 litres of disinfectants can be sprayed within 5 minutes and later it will have to be refilled. The battery can work for maximum 20 minutes.
Within this time maximum 4 times refilling can be done which can spread 40 litres disinfectants. We haven't received any approval from the officials of the GHMC for COVID-19 spraying."
Speaking to The Hans India, Viswajit Kampati, the Director of GHMC Enforcement Vigilance and Disaster Management (EVDM), said, "Basically we are not utilising drones for a very specific reason as they are very costly to operate and they are very ineffective.
The maximum load that one drone can carry is around 10 to 20 litres." He questions: "For 25 litres plus how much area will be covered?"
The drone has to be refilled and recharged every 25 minutes. It compromises time and productivity. Moreover, spraying of disinfectants is done in areas where there is possibility of people touching and in contact surfacing areas, adds Viswajit.
