COVID-19: Sanitizing tunnel operationalised in Srinagar

The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Thursday installed and operationalised its first decontamination and sanitation tunnel at a hospital here in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu said.

The decontamination and sanitization tunnel, manufactured and commissioned by the SMC, was installed at the entry of the Chest Diseases Hospital a designated COVID-19 hospital here, he said.

Mattu said the tunnel disinfects people by spraying chemicals on every person who goes through it.

These types of tunnels have been used in China and Turkey, he added.

The Mayor said he plans to have 200 such tunnels installed across the city in the next few weeks.

"This will be our biggest biological barrier against coronavirus," Mattu told PTI.

He said the chemical used for spraying -- Quaternary Ammonium Chloride (QAC) -- is the most effective one to contain spread of the virus.

Mattu said these tunnels which in the first phase would be installed at all hospitals across the city were manufactured by the mechanical engineers at the SMC who had planned them and other equipment almost two months ago.

"We assembled this and other machines and chemicals within a month. We started to assemble this before the lockdown, maybe two months ago. Today, the SMC stands at number one in the country in its COVID-19 response," he said.

The doctors at the Chest Diseases Hospital have welcomed the installation of the tunnel, saying it uses safe and effective chemical for disinfection.

Thanking the mayor for the initiative, Dr Naveed Nazir Shah, who is head of department and incharge of COVID-19 response at the hospital, said the tunnel is first-of-its kind in Kashmir.