Dengue menace: BMC to redeploy drones for mosquito control in Bhubaneswar

With dengue cases on the rise, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to deploy drones like the previous year for mosquito control in the Capital City.

As per BMC sources, the drones will be used to spray chemicals at mosquito breeding sites. Mostly, the drones will be deployed in inaccessible locations like abandoned plots, narrow lanes, drains, slums and household surroundings.

The civic body had also deployed drones to spray chemicals to control mosquitoes in Bhubaneswar last year on an experimental basis.

Meanwhile, the BMC has decided to impose a penalty of Rs 1,000 on residents if potential dengue mosquito breeding sources are found on their premises. Similarly, the penalty amount would be Rs 5,000 for commercial establishments and institutions.

The penalty will be collected from the disobedient households and establishments from August 15.

The BMC has urged for public participation and involvement to curb dengue mosquito breeding in the Capital City. The civic body has also appealed to all citizens, offices, and institutions for the removal of defunct vehicles, food carts, tyres, and plastic containers from their surroundings.

“BMC is taking all possible measures to mitigate dengue risks through surveillance of potential dengue mosquito breeding spots, fogging, spraying larvae oil and creating awareness amongst the citizen in general. We are going to deploy drones to spray chemicals in inaccessible locations like last year for mosquito control,” said BMC Mayor Sulochana Das.

However, it is yet to be finalised how many drones will be deployed and for how many days those will be used to spray chemicals in inaccessible locations.