Telangana receives permission to use drones in delivering COVID-19 vaccines

HYDERABAD: Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted permission to the Government of Telangana to conduct experimental delivery of COVID-19 vaccines using drones for short distances. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) released a notification on April 29 stating that Telangana has been granted conditional exemption from the Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2021, for conducting experimental delivery of vaccines using visual line of sight (VLOS) range. This conditional exemption will be valid for a period of one year unless further orders are released.

MoCA had granted permission to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on April 2021, to conduct a feasibility study on using drones to deliver COVID-19 vaccine. The permission was granted after the ICMR had sought exemption from aviation rules that ban use of drones for payload delivery in India. MoCA clarified that these exemptions shall be valid only if all conditions and limitations as stated by the ministry for respective entities are strictly adhered to. The note added that the exemption will become null and void if any case of violation is formed.

Telangana thus became the first state in the nation to receive permission from MoCA to deliver coronavirus vaccines to several primary health centres. This project has been named ‘Medicine from the Sky’, which all set to start its trial mode from early May at Vikarabad Area Hospital. As part of the project’s trial mode, eight selected start-ups would be divided into four batches, and each would carry out the sorties for six days to complete the 24-day trial. Each drone will carry a combination of dummy vials and regular vaccines in the trial period and data obtained from the detailed record of performance in this time period will be used to frame and guide further policies regarding the full-scale adoption of the delivery through drones.