GHMC kicks off online tracking of fogging vehicles in Hyderabad

Stung by severe criticism about wide prevalence of vector-borne diseases in the city, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has begun initiatives to tighten surveillance on vector-control operations.

The corporation has introduced online tracking of vehicles used for Entomology operations, and also started keeping a tab on teams carrying out anti-larval operations across various localities of the city.

Mobile app

A mobile app is being deployed, where higher officials can check the status of fogging and anti-larval operations dynamically. Under trial as of now, the app will soon be made public where people can check the status, informed officials.

To begin with, vehicles used for fogging operations have been fixed with GPS devices connected to the app. Through the app, one can know where the vehicle is moving, at how much speed and at what time.

A total of 62 vehicles used for fogging operations are fixed with the devices for real-time tracking, Additional Commissioner (Health) S. Pankaja said. In addition, anti-larval operations by Entomology workers will have to be monitored more vigilantly by field assistants henceforth. Each EFO will have to check at least 30 homes per day to verify if the operations have been done. GHMC has a total of 120 EFOs with a team of 18 workers each reporting to them.

Electronic signature

“EFOs need to do random verification and upload the details in the mobile app, along with the latitude-longitude coordinates of the location. We are developing another feature, whereby they need to obtain the electronic signature of residents as evidence of the job done,” Ms. Pankaja added. Each Entomology worker needs to cover three colonies per week, she said.

GHMC has recently increased the time of fogging operations by one hour. Now, the operations take place between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Eventually, CCTV cameras will be installed to fogging vehicles to keep a check on diesel consumption, she said.

Published - September 20, 2024 09:04 pm IST