New Delhi, Apr 13 (IANS): To control the spread of coronavirus, the Delhi government, here on Monday, launched a disinfection drive in the Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency by using Japanese machines.

These machines are specifically built to spray disinfectants and are flexible enough to be used in narrow lanes as well. They can disinfect up to 20,000 sq metre area per hour.

The state government also announced that it would start sanitisation and disinfection drives in the 45 containment zones, created across the city to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and high-risk zones, ascertained by the health department,

According to Rajinder Nagar MLA Raghav Chadha, to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, the Delhi government has marked various containment zones and divided them into red and orange zones. The disinfection drive will start in the red zones.

"This machine is equipped to spray disinfectants. It's also very flexible. Its length is adjustable, and can easily enter even narrow lanes," he said. Farmers use similar machines to spray disinfectants in farms, he added.

The chemical used in the disinfection drive was as per the WHO guidelines, he said.

"In Rajinder Nagar, we have started it as a pilot project with three machines. The outcome and the machine's performance will be analysed by experts," said Chadha.

Under the 'Mukhyamantri Delhi Sanitisation Drive', these machines were also used in the Kondli area.

On Sunday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced the disinfection drive with the help of PI Industries. The company has provided 10 machines for free.

The Delhi Jal Board has 50 smaller machines, which will also be used in the disinfection drive.