Disinfecting drones to step in where human eye can’t see

As a part of its monsoon preparation, the Western Railway has now adopted ‘drone’ technology at its Lower Parel workshop, to curb the spread of seasonal illnesses by disinfecting areas which cannot be seen by the human eye. In a first-ofits-kind-effort, the Carriage Repair Workshop had teamed up with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to carry out large-scale drone disinfection of inaccessible mosquito-breeding spots on the workshop premises, since the last week of June, to eliminate vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya.

Officials said not only it would help them keep monsoon diseases at bay and would ensure a safe and healthy working environment for the staff engaged in the daily maintenance work of coaches.

Sumit Thakur, chief public relations officer, WR said the Lower Parel workshop is geographically situated in a chronic, floodprone, low-lying area, getting water logged during the monsoon. Using drone technology is part of monsoon preparation to avoid the transmission of vector-borne diseases by effectively controlling the mosquito vectors or interrupting the human–vector contact, especially in the wake of the current coronavirus pandemic.

“With drone technology, we will be able to spray the right insecticide at the right time and can control the larvae and adult population. Normally, all shops and sections are disinfected by spraying liquid pesticides and fogging with a manual sprayer. However, these methods have certain limitations as they do not cover elevated areas such as rooftops,” he said.

Tarun Huria, Chief Workshop Manager, Lower Parel, said this aerial method is being used for the first time in the railway workshop for disinfection of mosquito breeding and other vector-borne diseases in areas that are usually inaccessible, such as the roofs of sheds, buildings and valley gutters. Two drones are used for the attack. “The strategy involves employing one drone to carefully survey the inaccessible breeding spots and the other, to spray the disinfectant. The drones carry out disinfection of the entire workshop premises by flying to inaccessible places as high as 500m, spraying over 15 litres of disinfectant for nearly 12 hours every day,” he said.