Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Wednesday pressed into service 14 mechanized decontamination vehicles and special teams for decontamination of Chattabal here after the locality was declared red last week.
An official said the Corporation has decided to decontaminate one red zone every day as a preventive measure to break the chain of coronavirus transmission.
On April 2, authorities declared Chattabal as red zone in view of a cluster of four positive COVID19 cases.
A special chemical, Quaternary Ammonium Chloride, recommended by experts, was used today to fumigate and sterilize the locality.
The standard procedure was adopted in the entire process, said Srinagar Mayor Junaid Mattu.
The Corporation teams engaged in the operation were provided all necessary and precautionary equipment to ensure they do not contracted infection.
The teams carried on sterilization and fumigation of residential houses and commercial and non-commercial structures. Even vehicles parked in or outside residential and commercial structures were sprayed with the chemicals.
“The residents of the locality extended their cooperation,” said the Mayor.
The Corporation also used latest technology in working the plan for decontamination of area. “The SMC GIS team worked on mapping routes for carrying decontamination and sanitization drive in Chattabal containment zone. We will be monitoring the drive both on-site and off-site. Effort is maximum and thorough coverage. #Srinagar #Covid19,” tweeted Mayor.
The SMC is scheduled to carry decontamination of Lal Bazaar and Eidgah on April 9.
Six localities have been declared red zones in Srinagar after several persons from these areas patients were declared COVID19 positive.
Besides Chattabal and Eidgah, a case has also emerged from Jawahar Nagar. With a sharp increase in number of COVID19 cases, number of red zones has increased to 45 in Kashmir. an official said of the total number of red zones 26 were located in Kashmir division while rest are in located Udhampur, Rajouri, Samba and Jammu.
The official said number of red zones, an area which is a cluster of positive COVID19 cases, has seen a spurt during the past few days. Use of technology such as Geo-tagging is helping in exact identification of the affected areas, the official said.
