HYDERABAD: In a bid to fight the rising mosquito menace in the city, GHMC officials on Friday used a drone to spray anti-larval insecticide over the Musi River and its riverfront. The operation, which is a part of GHMC’s pilot project to use drones for spraying bio-enzymes to contain water hyacinth and mosquito menace, was earlier done over Miyapur Lake, Malkam Cheruvu and Banjara Lake, and a lake in Serilingampally.
Speaking to Express, GHMC’s Khairatabad Zonal Commissioner Musharraf Faruqui said that the drones have a lifting capacity 10 kg, and can spray 7 litres of anti-larval medicine at one go. “On Friday, the drone paid five to six trips over the Musi, each time carrying 7 litre of insecticide. Each lap took around five minutes to complete.”
Faruqui said that the preliminary results, of how effective the drone has been, would be available tomorrow. However, he contended that there might be differences in the results when compared to that of lakes, since the river is not stationary in nature. The civic body, and MARUT, a city-based company, collaborated to develop the drones.