Indian Railway has used drones for the first time for inspecting a stretch of dedicated freight corridor project to assess the progress on the ground. With the success of this part, drones would now be used to monitor other under-construction schemes and all other ongoing projects to be monitored through aerial survey. Railways is also considering to use drones to assess the ground situation in the aftermath of train accidents.
The drone was used for three days on a trial basis to cover the total 98 km on the DFC. The status report was prepared after the analysis of video recordings. “It becomes easier and faster to prepare the status report of an ongoing project through drone. Field work can be monitored from the office using the drone footage,” said DFC MD Adesh Sharma.
A drone is essentially a flying robot which can be remotely handled through software-controlled flight plans embedded in its systems working in conjunction with GPS. “We used a drone to ascertain the progress on the 42 km long track between Baghega to Srimadhopur in Rajasthan in the Western DFC and also the 56 km long line between Durgawati and Sasaram in Bihar,” Sharma said.
The drone was hired from a private operator and it cost Rs3,000 per km for undertaking the aerial survey. At present, about 170 projects, including doubling and laying of new lines, are being executed. Drones will now be used to assess actual physical progress of several rail projects, sources said.