KMC to use drone to kill mosquitoes

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has procured a drone to search and kill mosquito larvae for avoiding  spread of vector-borne diseases like dengue, malaria, and chikungunya a top official said on Thursday.

The drone, christened Vinash, can fly up to a height of 20-storey building and is fitted with a Global Positioning System.

"The drone will click pictures of buildings and other spots which are inaccessible to us," said KMC Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh, who launched the hi-tech unmanned vehicle.

The drone also has a robotic hand that will gather  samples from water and on the ground.

"After testing the samples if we find any of these inaccessible areas are breeding grounds of mosquitoes, we will use it to spray insecticides and kill the mosquitoes," said Atin Ghosh.

A container is attached to the drone for storing the pesticides. It additionally has a hooter that will become operational when the drone sprays the pesticides.

Several individual have died and a large number got afflicted with mosquito-borne diseases including chikungunya and dengue  in the city this year.