Coronavirus in Noida: Drones conduct sanitization drives in Noida’s sealed hotspots! The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has taken stringent steps to curb COVID-19 spread across the state. The state government has identified 15 districts as being hotspots for COVID-19 on Wednesday, of which one was Noida. To sanitise the hotspots in Noida, the Noida Authority started conduction sanitization drives in the 16-17 places under its jurisdiction on Thursday, Noida Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari told news agency ANI. She further said that they were using drones to spray disinfectants in these areas to sanitise them.

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In Noida, 22 hotspots were identified that needed to be sealed, including 34 localities, 12 clusters and 10 epicentres, according to news agency IANS. Entire sectors 5, 8, 27, 28, 41 and 44 and J Colony will be sealed as they have a large number of cases and allowing movement in these areas might lead to the spread of the virus.

Moreover, Hyde Park in Sector 78, Lotus Boulevard in Sector 100, Supertech Cape Town in Sector 74, Greater Noida's Alpha 1, Nirala Green Shire in Sector 2 of Greater Noida, Logix Blossom Country in Sector 137 of Noida, Patwari village, Wazidpur village and Paras Tierra have also been identified as hotspots. Significant townships like Gaur City-2 in Greater Noida West and Jaypee Wish Town in Sector 128 have also been listed under the hotspots. No movement of people will be allowed in these areas and their essential requirements will be delivered to them by the authorities.

Last month also, several municipal corporations across India, including those in Raipur, Indore and Tamil Nadu, turned to drone technology to carry out sanitization drives, following in the footsteps of countries like Israel and Singapore, which are already deploying drones for such tasks. Moreover, drones have the added advantage of reaching places which would be difficult to sanitize manually. Not just that, if manual sanitization drives are undertaken, it will put manual workers at the risk of contracting COVID-19, and this danger can be avoided in case of drones, hence limiting the spread.