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Guwahati, Sept. 26: In the wake of rising dengue cases in the city, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has procured five new thermal fogging devices to fight the menace.
The newly acquired remote-controlled devices operate on 12-volt rechargeable battery and can be installed on any two or three-wheeled vehicles.
Further, the chemical tank of these devices has a holding capacity of 50 litres and can spray up to 80 litres per hour.
Senior health and medical officials of GMC told a national daily that they have extensively increased the fogging operations using these devices.
Officials also added that these devices will be mounted on mopeds, making fogging in the hill and congested areas much easier.
Reportedly, 15 new field workers were hired to support the fogging efforts. Prior to this, the municipality had 15 handheld machines and seven vehicle-mounted fogging devices.
Previously, the staff and officials used to carry the fogging devices to such areas, but now due to their light weight, it is set to become a seamless process.
It is worth noting that the municipality recently acquired 10 hand-held fogging machines and five vehicle-mounted fogging devices.
The cost of each hand-held device was Rs 8 lakh, while each vehicle-mounted device costs Rs 14 lakh.
Earlier, Health Department reports highlighted that dengue cases have witnessed an alarming rise in the city with over 1,000 positive cases have been reported across the state till date.
Among the reported cases, more than 800 dengue cases were reported from July till date this year. As per official data, this year Assam reported around 214 Dengue cases in July, around 293 cases in August and around 336 cases in September (till date).
A number of areas within Greater Guwahati, particularly the eastern zones including Geetanagar, Zoo Road Tiniali, and Bhaskar Nagar, have been particularly affected, with over 67 cases in Kamrup (Metro).
