 "Civic body in Delhi deploys drone to spray larvicide to combat dengue")
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, a drone was on Wednesday used by vector-control team of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation to spray larvicide to check the spread of dengue in the city, cases of which have seen a record spike here.
East Delhi Mayor Shyam Sunder Aggarwal claimed that the EDMC was the "first civic body" in the national capital to deploy a drone for control of vector-borne disease.
Larvicide was sprayed on the banks of river Yamuna using a drone, which can carry a container with a capacity of 10-12 litre, he said.
"We have hired an agency for it as a pilot project, and if the response is good, we will deploy more drones fir vector-control. One drone can cover about 3 km range," the mayor said.
The move essentially is to supplement the efforts of the municipal team, especially to reach to inaccessible areas, like a swampy land or middke of a lake, where staff cannot go to do spraying, officials said.
Dengue cases in Delhi have seen a massive surge in November, triggering a blame game between the ruling BJP in civic bodies and the AAP, which leads the Delhi government in the city.
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The number of dengue cases in Delhi this season has crossed 5,270, the highest in the national capital in a year since 2015, according to a civic report released on Monday.
Nearly 2,570 fresh cases of the vector-borne disease were logged in the city in the last one week. However, no fresh fatality was reported.
According to the report on vector-borne diseases, a total of 5,277 dengue cases were recorded this year till November 13.
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