The Civil Aviation Ministry and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday permitted the Telangana Government to use drones for experimental delivery of vaccines within the visual line of sight. The Ministry’s statement does not mention which particular vaccine will be part of this experimental delivery.
Drones in the country are allowed to be used within the visual range, and agencies have to seek special permission from the Civil Aviation Ministry for conducting trials beyond the visual line of sight.
The ministry on Twitter said it has granted conditional exemption to the Telangana government from the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021, for “conducting experimental delivery of vaccines using drones within the visual line of sight range”. The drone usage permission has been granted for conducting experimental delivery of Covid-19 vaccines within Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) Range using drones. This exemption will be valid for a period of one year or until further orders, it noted. These exemptions shall be valid only if all conditions and limitations as stated for the respective entities are strictly adhered to. Trials will also assist in assessing conditions such as population, degree of isolation, geography etc to identify regions that specifically require drone deliveries. The Telangana government has in March 2021 sought an exemption from UAS Rules 2021.
Earlier, drones have been utilised to carry blood samples of a patient from Dehradun to a village in Tehri Garhwal.
On April 22, the ministry had permitted the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct a feasibility study on using drones to deliver COVID-19 vaccine.
The civil aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted permission to the Indian Council of Medical Research to conduct trials for delivery of COVID-19 vaccines using drones a few days ago. The ICMR will conduct the feasibility study in collaboration with IIT Kanpur for which permission has been granted for one year.
India is struggling with the second wave of the coronavirus infection as hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.