In these testing COVID-19 times when entire city remains confined to indoors, here are few men are working tirelessly to sanitise city and curtail the spread of the novel Coronavirus disease.
Working round the clock in three shifts, the GHMC’s Disaster Response Force (DRF) personnel have already sprayed disinfectants at all public places and major thoroughfares. Now, the target is to reach out to each and every colony and internal lanes and bylanes by April 15.
Sporting googles, gloves, masks and other personal protection equipment (PPE), as the DRF personal have started to visit colonies, impressed citizens are welcoming them with warmth and at many places, the residents are offering them food and snacks.
Advertisements
On Sunday, a DRF team fanned out into colonies of Baghlingampally. “They are doing a fabulous job and need to be appreciated. Their efforts instil a sense of confidence among us,” said Mohan Rao, a resident.
When the corona scare started to spread, these personnel were given a three-day crash course on use of spraying machines and respirators before being deployed on the field.
The GHMC Enforcement Vigilance and Disaster Management (EVDM) set up 19 of these teams with 675 persons and equipped them with advanced chemical resistant suits, gum boots apart from anti-fogging goggles.
Advertisements
Each team is assigned a location every day and all the bus shelters, footpaths and public places which witness high public gathering, have already been disinfected.
In addition to this, jetting teams with 18 machines have been deployed to cover all the areas. In order to facilitate faster coverage and spraying in narrow lanes and interior areas, eight Light Motor Vehicles of DRF have been retro-fitted with power spraying mechanism.
Innovative, resourceful ideas
Advertisements
Hyderabad: Necessity is the mother of invention. This is what GHMC Enforcement Vigilance and Disaster Management (EVDM) has done for the extensive disinfectant spraying exercise.
All the mini-jetting and suction machines were modified appropriately to facilitate disinfectant spraying as purchasing new machines meant huge expenditure.
As these machines are enabled for both jetting and suction modes, the suction mode was disabled and only jetting mode is kept enabled with retro-fitting for spraying purposes, said EVDM Director Viswajit Kampati.
Advertisements
A special nozzle was fitted to decrease the jetting pressure as conventional pressure installed in the machine was too high for spraying disinfectant. Nearly 20 mini jetting machines were also obtained on temporary basis from Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) and put to use.
“Our boys are working 24×7 and we hope to cover the complete city with disinfectant spraying by April 15,” Viswajit said.