Coronavirus battle goes hi-tech in Telangana; drones to spray disinfectants

HYDERABAD: The State government has issued directions to all District Collectors/Magistrates and Municipal Commissioners to use drones for sanitising several areas. Earlier, Express had reported that the government was planning to scale up drone operations across Telangana following the novel coronavirus outbreak. 

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, it instructed collectors and municipal commissioners in the State that they can use drones for disinfecting public places such as roads, bus stations, railways, MMTS stations, streets where there is a high possibility of virus exposure. 

The IT Department also recommended that these cleaning operations be taken up early in the morning and late at night times for “faster and uninterrupted” operations.

Drones can complete spraying disinfectant operations 50 times faster than manual methods. Citing the example of Marut Drones, which has been spraying anti-larval solutions on water bodies in Hyderabad, the State government said the operations would be “relatively simple and inexpensive to operate”.Although the IT Department is currently using drones only to spray disinfectants, it has relayed its various other benefits to the District Collector and Municipal Commissioners, indicating that in the future, and if needed it may use drones for other needs. 

According to information available with Express, the State government has told officials that drones could be used for monitoring public for crowd control and medicine delivery. Recently, in March, the State demonstrated its capabilities in the presence of officials from Ministry of Civil Aviation in delivering medicines through drones. Drones have been used for spraying disinfectants in the Mukurampur area of Karimnagar from where 10 Indonesians and one local had tested positive for Covid-19.  All major public places including auto stands and markets were sanitised. 

FASTER, CHEAPER
Drones can complete spraying disinfectant operations 50 times faster than manual methods. The State government feels the operations would be “relatively simple and inexpensive to operate”