Dubai: Catching rodents in Dubai has gone high-tech with Dubai Municipality developing a smart trap.
The new smart bait trap has the mechanism to kill the rodents with electric shock. It can hold up to 20 rodents at a time, depending on their size, a senior official said.
A smart sensor technology is used to alert about the entry of rodents in the trap, said Hisham Abdul Rahman Al Yahya, head of Pest Control Section.
“The device installed on the smart trap in the field will send text messages and emails to the control team in the Pest Control Section immediately after the rodents entering the trap and the text message will include the number and location of the trap and the number of the entrapped rodents,” he explained.
Due to the alert, he said the pest control inspectors do not have to make period inspections of the traps. The alerts also help them to know the location of the traps and dispose the dead rodents in a proper manner before they get decomposed.
“This smart trap will help reduce the expenses incurred on the fight against rodents and pests and will also contribute to the preservation of the environment, save time and effort in the follow-up of the traps all over the emirate.”
The official told Gulf News that mice, Norway rats and roof rats are the common types of rodents spotted in Dubai.
The smart trap, which the municipality developed in collaboration with a private company, has mechanism to keep aside the dead rats and accommodate entering the trap later.
“When it kills one rat, it is shifted to a base station, leaving space for trapping more rodents,” said Al Yahya.
He said the Public Health Services Department is in the process of installing these smart traps as an innovative plan to reduce the spread of rodents and develop control methods in line with the rapid development witnessed by Dubai in the areas of tourism, trade and business.
The initial plan is to install these traps around the sensitive government sites, Mohammad Bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai Mall etc.
“We will also ask pest control companies to use these traps in areas where they are working.”
He urged public to contact Municipality Call Centre at 800900 to inform about and any insects and pests in their areas. The official also reminded the public about the need to maintain public hygiene to help reduce the spread of pests.
Zuhoor Al Sabbagh, director of Public Health Services Department, said that the Pest Control Section is one of the vital sections working within an integrated system to control pests that can spread diseases.
“Last year, the Section won the first place in the Environmental Management Award for Government Agencies, launched by Saudi Arabia,” she pointed out.
