When roads end, drones carry Nepal’s dead home

In the flood-ravaged hills of Nepal, drones are doing something far beyond their traditional role of taking aerial photographs or mapping — carrying the dead home.

Seven bodies were airlifted by drones this week from Devighat-3 in Nuwakot to Devighat-5, from an area so difficult and dangerous to navigate that rescuers could not safely reach it, according to a report published in The Kathmandu Post newspaper on Wednesday.

It was “perhaps their most unusual role yet”, the report said. The drone team included personnel from Nepal Police, Nepal Army, and drone manufacturing company Garud X.

The unusual operation is the latest example of how drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are quietly becoming an extra pair of hands and eyes in Nepal’s disaster response.

From ferrying food and medicines to cut-off communities, searching for survivors in inaccessible areas and even airlifting bodies from locations too dangerous for rescuers to reach, drones in Nepal are rapidly shedding their image as mere tools for photography and mapping and emerging as an unlikely lifeline during disasters. In Devighat-3, one of the worst-hit areas, an AI-enabled drone recently flew over stranded villagers, its loudspeaker asking them a series of simple questions: Do you have water Food Medicine Villagers were asked to raise their hands in response.

“Based on the villagers’ response, we make an assessment for what they require and send the delivery through drones,” Milan Pandey, director of Airlift Technology and a drone pilot, was quoted as saying by the Post report.

The drone also asked people to provide a phone number or address, which could be written on a placard or even in the mud, allowing operators to identify their location and requirements.

The system has particular value in a disaster like the recent floods, where roads and bridges have been washed away and communities separated by swollen rivers can no longer reach one another. “We supplied at least 1.5 tonnes of emergency supplies, including food, to the affected areas in three days,” Pandey said.

In another operation, a drone was flown inside the tunnel of the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project, where scores of workers are believed to have been trapped following the floods, the report said.

“We reached platform 1 of the project and saw the tunnel filled with water and rocks. It’s risky and challenging to get inside,” said drone operator Adarsha Bhusal.

The drone found no signs of life inside the tunnel, he said.

Around 900 workers have been reported missing at various hydropower projects along the Trishuli and Bhote Koshi rivers, according to the Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal. The country’s drone ecosystem began taking shape after the 2015 earthquake, when international agencies brought the technology for damage assessment and recovery operations. Much of that capability is now being developed and operated by Nepali companies and young drone enthusiasts.

Nepal’s growing expertise is also beginning to find applications outside the country. Its private sector has provided drone-based services in Bhutan for multi-hazard risk assessment, according to the World Bank.

There are, however, limits. Payload capacity, range and weather conditions can restrict their use.

But where roads disappear, rivers become impassable or terrain is simply too dangerous for humans, operators say the impact of a relatively small aircraft can be disproportionate to its size.

It’s the cheapest mode of transporting supplies compared to choppers, operators say. “For a country repeatedly exposed to earthquakes, floods, landslides and mountain hazards, the rise of locally developed drone technology could mark a significant shift in how Nepal responds to disasters - putting eyes, cargo and rescue capability into places where human access is simply too dangerous,” Pandey said.

Airlift Technology, which assembles drones in Kathmandu using imported components, says the next step is enabling the technology to be used more widely.

“We just need an appropriate policy to promote such a life-saving machine,” Pandey said. Nepalese authorities on Wednesday urged people living in the central, western, and eastern parts of the Himalayan Nation to remain alert after water levels in three major rivers have crossed their alert levels following rainfall in different parts of the country. According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology’s Flood Forecasting Division, the Sun Koshi River in Sindhuli district, the Budhi Gandaki River in Gorkha and the Mahakali River in Dadeldhura were above alert levels as of 6 AM on September 2.

The division on Tuesday said that the Marsyangdi River in Lamjung district has crossed the danger mark at the Bhukundebesi water level monitoring centre at 11.15 PM.

According to the latest details released by the division, the water level in the Marsyangdi River is still on the rise. With the increase in water flow in the river, the risk of flooding is high.

As the water level has crossed the danger limit, people residing in the downstream area are urged to remain alert, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA).

The division has asked people living in lower areas along these rivers to take special precautions as flood risk remains. Authorities have also urged residents near river banks to remain vigilant and identify safe locations in case water levels rise further.

Nepal is receiving continuous rain these days as monsoon remains active in many parts of the country, including Kathmandu.