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Drones to be used for sprinkling pesticide over water hyacinth in Pune
The Pune Municipal Corporation plans to use drones to sprinkle pesticides on water hyacinths and tackle mosquito infestations. The pilot project will start next week at Katraj Lake and spread across the Mula-Mutha riverbed and other areas. The civic body plans to extend the programme if it is successful. The PMC has spent more than INR20 crore ($2.7m) over the past decade trying to eliminate water hyacinths, which are boosted by sewage runoff and create a thick layer over water surfaces, leading to the growth of mosquitoes and diseases.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is working on using drones for sprinkling pesticides on water hyacinths. If successful, the civic body will use this method on all hyacinth and mosquitoe-infested areas. This is being done to bring mosquito menace under control.
PMC Commissioner Vikram Kumar has sanctioned a dedicated budget for the spraying programme, which is scheduled to begin next week. The pilot project will begin at Katraj Lake and cover the entire Mula –Mutha riverbed and its interiors starting from Rajaram Bridge, Sanamwadi, Patil Estate, Bund Garden and Mundhwa Jackwell area.
Additional Commissioner Kunal Khemnar said, “It has been observed that most of the hyacinth located in the interiors remained away from the traditional spraying practice. The drones will help us get into deep interiors and inaccessible spots. This spraying will help us curb the rising mosquito menace across the city. We are initially spending ₹2 lakh for the pilot project and depending on the success and impact generated, we will extend the drone spraying to different areas of the city on a mass scale,” he said.
According to officials, the civic body has spent over ₹20 crore in the past ten years, to get rid of the water hyacinth in the Mula-Mutha River and other lakes. However, drainage flowing into these water bodies has led to exponential growth of the weed across the city leading to rise in mosquito population and other diseases.
The PMC environment department has hiked its budget from ₹2 crore to ₹4.50 crore and the tendering process to remove hyacinth.
Water hyacinth is a plant that rapidly grows during the summer season due to the lack of water flow in the lake. Water hyacinths create a thick layer over the water and invade the water surface completely. The main reason for the growth of hyacinth is the phosphate pollution caused by the detergent load that enters the sewage, environmentalist’s state.
