In Delhi, a ‘terminator train’ to kill mosquitoes

To control the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, a special train — Terminator — started on Friday from platform number 1 of the New Delhi Railway station. The train will spray insecticides along railway tracks in the city.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and the Northern Railway have been running the train every year during monsoon for the past 10 years. However, it was delayed this time.

Hindustan Times earlier reported that despite repeated requests from Northern Railway to start the train, SDMC said it wouldn’t be able to start it before September 23 as they were not well-equipped.

The train, a joint initiative of Northern Railways and SDMC, has a low-lying platform on which a high-pressure spraying truck is mounted. The spraying machine can cover areas up to 60 metre away with the nozzle.

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Divisional railway manager, Delhi, Arun Arora, said, “These trains will be effective in controlling vector-borne diseases as there are several slum clusters along the tracks which are vulnerable to mosquito breeding.”

The Capital recorded over 1,500 chikungunya cases in the week ending September 17, according to data released by the corporation, taking the total number of cases of the mosquito-borne infection to 2,625. A total of 1,378 cases of dengue have been reported till September 17.

South civic body Commissioner Puneet Goel said, “These trains are effective in killing the larva in the water bodies and there is water accumulated in several areas along tracks.”