'Mosquito Terminator' to spray insecticide on railway track

Stepping up efforts to contain mosquito breeding near the tracks, Northern Railway today launched the 'Mosquito Terminator' train from New Delhi station to spray insecticide on water bodies around tracks.
This will be undertaken in collaboration with South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).
SDMC has provided a truck mounted power sprayer to Delhi Division of Northern Railway which sprays insecticide in water bodies around rail tracks to prevent mosquito breeding.
The train carrying 'mosquito terminator' will pass through Delhi Serai Rohilla, Patel Nagar, Delhi Cantt., Palam, Safdarjung, Kishanganj, Lajpat Nagar, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Adarsh Nagar, Rathdhana, Shahdara, Palam and Gurgaon.

According to a senior Northern Railway official the water bodies formed on land adjacent to the tracks, which is otherwise inaccessible, act as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
"The insecticide sprayed over the water bodies would check the threat in the most effective manner," he said.

There will be four rounds of spraying at two weeks interval between each round to cover the peak mosquito season of August and September.
Large population living around the tracks are exposed to Aedes and other types of mosquitoes leading to comparatively higher incidence of dengue and malaria.
So far, it was not possible to cover large areas in a short span of time. The sprayers have a potency to sanitise a distance of 50-60 meters from the tracks. This train will cover a distance of about 150 km in each cycle over a period of two days.

The 'Mosquito Terminator' was launched in the presence of Divisional Railway Manager of Delhi Anurag Sachan and SDMC Commissioner Manish Gupta, and other senior officials.