The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and Northern Railways on Friday flagged off a mosquito terminator train from New Delhi Railway Station. Insecticide will be sprayed from a power sprayer mounted on a truck placed over the train to substantially mitigate the threat of vector borne diseases including chikungunya and dengue in 50 to 60 meter area on both sides of railway tracks.
Under the joint initiative of the SDMC and the Northern Railway the insecticide will be sprayed on the both sides of rail track in Delhi with an aim to eliminate the menace of mosquitoes.
"This preventive measure will go a long way in protecting thousands of people from Chikungunya and dengue. This will not only eliminate larvae but also neutralize mosquitoes," a senior SDMC official said.
The move will also provide desired relief to large number of residents putting up in JJ clusters along rail tracks where by road approach is not possible for spray, he said, adding that the efforts of the SDMC have been helpful in bringing down the cases of dengue in last few years.
Explaining about it further, the official said that a truck mounted with power sprayer provided by SDMC that is loaded on a special kind of Railway wagon called DBKM which has a low flat surface to accommodate the truck.
"The special train on run on different dates will spray insecticide to sanitize the water bodies along the tracks from New Delhi Railway Station covering Hazrat Niazamuddin, Lajpat Nagar, Sewa Nagar, Lodi Colony, Delhi Safdarjang, Patel Nagar, Delhi Kishanganj,
Sadar Bazar, Sarai Rohilla, Barar Square, InderPuri, Mayapuri, Dayabasti, Delhi Cantt., Palam, Behta Hazipur halt, Noli, Delhi Shahdara and back to New Delhi Railway Station," he said.
The terminator train will move at a speed of 20 km/ph covering a distance about 150 km in each cycle. Apart from water bodies, the train sprays insecticides over depression created on both sides of railway tracks, where chances of mosquito breeding remain high after rains.
The south Corporation conduct similar drive annually as a precautionary measure to minimize mosquito breeding alongside railway tracks.