From spraying of disinfectants to mobile “phone booth” swab collection units, the East Singhbhum district administration is leaving no stone unturned to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), the state-owned local civic body for Jamshedpur city, on Thursday started a “three-dimensional” spray, that spouts the disinfectants (a mixture of water and sodium hypochlorite a.k.a bleach) in three directions — left, right and front — mounted on a tractor.

JNAC city manager Ravi Bharti said: “Acting on the directive of the deputy commissioner, Ravi Shankar Shukla, for regular sanitisation of the market place and even residential areas we undertook some technical changes in the spraying machine. Now, this can spray disinfectants in three directions, front and on both the sides.

“It is aimed at sanitising the maximum area in the shortest of time. We intend to use it in commercial areas and urban slums,” said Bharti.

JNAC is already using two shoulder-mounted spray machines. The rest of the disinfectants are sprayed using fire brigade machines of Jamshedpur fire station at Golmuri.

Even Jusco is conducting spraying of disinfectants using fire tenders of Tata Steel to sanitise areas.

On the other hand, district civil surgeon Dr Maheshwari Prasad informed on Thursday that six vehicle mounted phone booth Covid-19 swab collection units have been purchased by the district. These will be taken by two member teams, that will include a doctor and a lab-technician, to collect samples in the areas identified as hotspots.

Dr Prasad said: “We have formed the six teams and also procured the mobile phone booth swab collections units developed by West Singhbhum district administration for rapid collection of samples.

“Till now, no positive case has been reported in our district but we are keeping everything ready just in case anything turns up here,” he said.

There will be a team for Baharagora and Chakulia block, one for Ghatshila, Mosaboni and Dhalbhumgarh blocks, one looking after Jugsalai, Mango and Jamshedpur, one for Potka, one for Ghurabandha and Dumuria and another for Patamda and Bodam.

Additional district magistrate (law and order) N. K Lal, on Friday, asked all the 11 block officials and special officers of the JNAC, Mango Notified Area Committee (MNAC) and Jugsalai municipality to submit daily reports on persons, who had travelled from other districts, other states or from abroad prior the lockdown, to the district surveillance unit after conducting survey at their houses.

“The officials have to visit their houses daily and monitor their condition and submit reports to the district control room,” said Lal.

The district civil surgeon was also asked by the deputy commissioner to conduct regular medical screening at all the state quarantine centres while village level entrepreneurs (called pragya kendra operators) have been asked to download the suraksha Covid-19 app in the smartphones of those under home quarantine and at quarantine centres to complete their registration process.