Aerial Delivery Of COVID-19 Vaccine Through Octacopter Drones Launched In Jammu

Jammu: Union Minister for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Saturday (November 27) launched the first-of-its-kind drone driven aerial delivery facility to transport COVID vaccines as well as emergency medicines to inaccessible and difficult areas in a short span of time. Speaking on the occasion, he said while Pakistan drone carries explosives to spread terror and threaten human lives, the Indian drone has assumed the role of a COVID warrior to carry life-saving vaccine and life-saving medicines for safety and well-being of mankind. This indeed is the fundamental difference between the two countries, he said.

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The first consignment of 50 vials of COVID vaccine which was dropped by the drone near the International Border (IB) in Marh area. The “Octacopter” drone was developed indigenously at Bengaluru at the initiative of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The Minister said that the Octacopter has compliance to DGCA-NPNT, Geo fencing and digital sky with 360 degree Collision avoidance making it one of the best UAV of its class. He also added that the Octacopter developed by National Aerospace Laboratory, Bengaluru, can be used for a variety of BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) applications for last mile delivery of medicines, vaccines, food, postal packets, Human organs etc. Later speaking to ANI, Jitendra Singh said after achieving the landmark of 100 crore vaccination, PM Modi set another target, “Har Ghar Dastak”.

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Taking inspiration from that, a drone was developed in India. The indigenously developed drone will also be called COVID warrior. It can be used at low cost in especially mountain states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh where it is not possible in every situation to deliver vaccines.

The minister also said drone will drop “sanjeevani booti” for the protection of humanity and human lives.

It has been launched at such a place which is located on the border. This is such a place where a lot of drones were sent from the Pakistani side for a long time. The incoming drone from Pakistan drops explosives for the destruction of humanity, disrupt peace, to promote terrorism. Our drone will drop ‘sanjeevani booti’ for the protection of humanity and human lives and maintain peace, he said.

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.