Trials of ‘Medicine from Sky’ project likely this month-end

Workshop held to explore potential hazards, mitigation strategies

The first phase of trial flights under the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ programme of Telangana government to deliver vaccine and medical supplies using drones, to remote areas, is expected in the last week of June. This was announced in a release on a virtual Hazard Identification and Risk Mitigation workshop, conducted on June 11, in which stakeholders from key organisations, including Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA, AAI, BCAS and NITI Aayog as well as senior officials from Vikarabad District Collectorate participated. Spearheaded by the Emerging Technologies Wing of State’s IT Department, the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project, with which World Economic Forum, NITI Aayog, and HealthNet Global are associated, entails undertaking experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights for delivery of vaccines using the identified airspace of Vikarabad.