CHENNAI: The city corporation has begun drone-based spraying of larvicide in large waterbodies and waterways to control mosquito breeding, particularly Culex mosquitoes, Commissioner GS Sameeran said on Tuesday. The initiative, which had also been in practice earlier in 2021 and later put on hold, resumed on Tuesday at the confluence of the North Buckingham Canal and the Cooum River.
Sameeran said the civic body would use drones in waterways wider than 30m across 15 zones. It is also carrying out dengue-control measures using over 700 machines, including vehicle-mounted fogging machines and hand-held sprayers.
GCC has also identified 539 dengue hotspots across the city. The Breteau Index, which measures the presence of live mosquito larvae across a sample of 100 houses and should not exceed 5%, stood at 0.46% in Chennai. GCC treats areas with an index above 0.1% as hotspots. Over 8,300 fever cases have been recorded in the city so far in September.