Civic body donated five automatic sprinkling machines

TNN | Apr 14, 2020, 04:12 IST

Vadodara: Firemen in city will no longer have to work under the risk of getting rashes and burn injuries while sanitizing the city. Vadodara Municipal Corporation on Tuesday was donated five machines which can automatically sprinkle a mixture of water and chemical.
Swadhyay Movement donated these machines, which are usually used in farms for sprinkling pesticides. Fire officials said the machine can work non-stop for 90 minutes and sprinkle 600 litres of mixture during the period. The machine has rotating booms which can cover an area of 30 square kilometres while sprinkling the mixture. They are stationed at Vadiwadi fire station. The machines were used on Tuesday at Navi Dharti locality in Nagarwada which has been put under mass quarantine as three persons from the area tested positive for coronavirus.
So far, the fire department used to manually sprinkle mixture of water and sodium hypochlorite from its tankers. Some eight firemen had recently suffered skin infection because of the chemical. They had developed rashes on their skin and suffered from burning sensation for two days.
Although the civic body officials are hailing the machines, fire department sources said they will not be of much use in Vadodara because of narrow lanes. “The machine can cover 30 square metre area but the roads in our city are narrow due to which it can only be used on major roads,” another fire official said.