Soon Drones Will Deliver Medicines in India || Everything You Need To Know About Telangana's Drone Delivery Project

The idea of Drone delivery seems like a futuristic one that we only see in the movies. Well, the state government of Telangana has different plans and wants to make this distant dream turn into reality. They have partnered with the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution Network (C4IR). They have come forth with the launch of a drone delivery project called ‘Medicine in the sky’ that will run in partnership with the state government and HealthNet Global Limited, according to an official release. This futuristic project will include a thorough study of drone-based deliveries for vaccines, blood, medical samples and organs. In this article, we are going to talk about this.

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Before starting this article, I recommend that you read about India's Drone Policy by clicking here.

Key Features of the Project

• It will deliver emergency medical supplies like blood and vaccines by using drones.
• It will help decision making in healthcare supply chains easier.
• It will address issues that affect a medical distribution system
• It will focus on last-mile deliveries.

"We hope that through this project with the World Economic Forum, we can inform the Centre on the regulations that can help us positively use drones and unlock the potential of India by harnessing technology,"  -- Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, IT and Industries, Telangana

Importance of the Project

Such a project in India could bring a technological revolution in India. This technology can be used further in many different sectors such as

• Military - Drones can be used to supply food and healthcare to the front lines in times of an emergency.
• Natural disaster - In times of a natural disaster drones can be used to send health care and food packages to remote areas where people are affected.
• Real Estate and Construction - Drones can be used to survey land and gather information at job sites.
• Oil, gas and mineral exploration - With the help of specific electromagnetic sensors, drones can be used to gather geological information to help geophysicists identify and better approximate the location and presence of minerals, oil, and natural gas.

Drones have many further uses and I believe that the step taken by the Telangana Government is the first of many more to come.

Rules and Regulations

Last year, the Director-General of Civil Aviation had stated the policy that defines what classifies as remotely piloted aircraft. It also outlined how they can be flown and the restrictions they will operate under. It states that drones can be operated by someone who is over 18 years of age. They should have cleared the Class X examination in English and should have undergone DGCA ground and practical training.
In addition to the permission of the police, drone operators will have to take permission from Air Traffic Control (ATC), Air Defence Clearance (ADC), and Flight Information Centre (FIC).
The DGCA has clarified that the remote pilot can only operate one drone at any time. Drones cannot be flown within 5 km of the perimeters of the airports in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad and within 3 km from the perimeter of any other airport.
These drones are only allowed to fly during daytime within “Visual Line of Sight (VLOS)”.

Hello, I am G Shiva Krishna. I am currently pursuing Electrical Engineering from Shiv Nadar University. I am an avid follower of sports, majorly cricket, badminton and football. I love to write about sports, technology, health and current affairs.

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