In Srinagar COVID-19 Fight, 'Jugaad' Road Sprayers, Disinfectant Tunnels

The engineers and technicians at Srinagar's civic body are using the spirit of 'jugaad' or hacks to equip hospitals and sanitation workers with tools to fight coronavirus in Kashmir.

At the municipal corporation's workshop, workers assembled decontamination tunnels and converted small vehicles into boom sprayers to sanitise roads.

Besides doctors and paramedics, sanitation workers of the civic body are the first respondents of COVID-19 crisis. As soon as a person is tested positive, the civic body teams in Srinagar rush to where the patient lives, seal the neighbourhood and decontaminate the area.

The boom sprayers - that spray disinfectants on both sides of the road - are now a common sight on the streets of Srinagar.

Zadibal!

9/n pic.twitter.com/sECQ2ShRTc

— Mayor of Srinagar #StayHomeSaveLives (@MayorofS) April 4, 2020

"We are fabricating 100 decontamination and sanitisation tunnels, and installing them in hospitals and public places to contain spread of COVID-19," Srinagar mayor Junaid Mattoo told NDTV.

He said the civic body has been preparing for the last two months to deal with COVID-19 crisis by sourcing chemicals, machines and protective gear for sanitation workers. The mayor said they anticipated the crisis and were prepared.

"We are now getting calls from multiple municipal corporations from different parts of the country for sharing technical know-how," Mr Mattoo said.

The Srinagar civic body has installed decontamination tunnels at hospitals which have been declared as COVID-19 treatment centres. "We want our doctors and paramedics who fight COVID-19 to be protected. Installing these tunnels at hospitals is a shield against the virus," he said.

Costing Rs 20,000 for each installation, the decontamination tunnels are priced well, the authorities say.

"It doesn't take much to fabricate a tunnel. It's cost-effective. I saw these decontamination tunnels being used in Turkey. I discussed with my engineers and came with a prototype," the Srinagar Mayor said.
Srinagar has been under lockdown for the last 19 days, almost a week before the countywide lockdown began. The city's civic body was the first shut schools. The administration followed it up with lockdown orders to prevent spread of coronavirus.

Jammu and Kashmir has reported 109 coronavirus cases and two deaths.

"Kashmir is vulnerable because of the climate and there are a lot of people who return from the Middle East and Europe which makes the challenge greater. It was because of this that we went into lockdown before the rest of the country," Junaid Mattoo said.