New Delhi, Apr 2 (IANS): A flying object over a locality in Nizamuddin left the residents wondering what it was. Later they came to know that the South Delhi Municipal Corporation deployed a drone to spray a disinfectant over the locality, now said to be the epicentre of COVID-19 outbreak.

SDMC said it used the drone to spray 1% sodium hypochlorite solution as a disinfectant in Nizamuddin East, Nizamuddin Basti and the surrounding areas. The spraying radius also included the controversial Markaz building.

"The drone deployment was meant to bring down human contact in the area. We don't want our dedicated sanitation workers to be infected," a senior SDMC official told IANS. He said drones also help in covering a large area effectively.

"The drone took 18 rounds of 20 minutes each with a 5-liter solution of the disinfectant. We may deploy more drones in the area," he said.

The sanitation drive in the Nizamuddin area has been going on since Monday, a day after Delhi Police started evacuating people from the Nizamuddin Markaz.

The police had cordoned off a large part of Nizamuddin West as several people showed coronavirus symptoms after taking part in the religious gathering, Delhi Health Minister Satendra Jain had said.

The police have identified over 1,830 attendees of the religious congregation that had gathered in Nizamuddin earlier this month.

On Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered registration of an FIR against 'maulana' who led the congregation.

The maulana has been accused of organising a Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the area, flouting the social distancing norms.

According to sources, when the 21-day nationwide lockdown was announced, there were thousands of persons present inside the Tablighi Jamaat's international headquarters in southwest Delhi.