Battling Covid: KMC procures spl sprayer machines

KOLKATA: In a bid to check the Covid spread in the city, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Monday distributed 40 special types of sanitiser spraying machines among workers of Solid Waste Management department for carrying out intensive sanitisation of the Covid-affected wards.

The workers were provided training on how to use these machines at the Central Store in Moulali. About 20 of these special backpack machines were procured by the civic body at a cost of Rs 22,000 each. Another 20 machines were donated by a private company as part of its CSR project through the initiative undertaken by Tarak Singh, Member Board of Administrators, KMC who is in-charge of the Drainage and Sewerage department.

"The KMC had procured spraying machines last year when the first wave of the pandemic had hit the state. But, the machines had become defunct and due to non-availability of spare parts had been lying abandoned in the Central Store. The present machines manufactured by an automobile company of repute will not face such problems and if used as per directions will have good longevity,"said a senior KMC official.

After spraying the entire chemical, the machines should be washed properly with water and then reused. The KMC official informed that another 20 machines would be procured in a day or two, taking the total count to 60.

Spraying activities will be taken up in those wards that have witnessed a prevalence of Covid cases. The sprayer machine, equipped with a positive displacement plunger pump of 20 litre capacity chemical tank, can spray disinfectant or sanitiser up to a height of a three-storeyed building.