Representative image showing a drone.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
In a first of sorts, a postal bag was sent from Karjat town to the popular hill station of Matheran as part of a pilot project in India, which will give a new direction and mode to the postal materials in difficult terrains.
Located 108 km away from downtown Mumbai and 120 km away from Pune --and at a height of 2,570 feet – in the Karjat tehsil of Raigad district, Matheran is the smallest hill station of India. Matheran, which means “forest on the forehead”, is declared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest an eco-sensitive region and is Asia's only automobile-free hill station.
Matheran houses a Sub-Post Office.
“India Post successfully completed a pilot drone delivery from Karjat to Matheran, cutting a 1.5-hour journey to just 15 minutes while carrying a 9.8 kg payload of parcels and postal items. This marks a significant step in India Post’s pursuit of smarter, faster, and more inclusive last-mile delivery, bringing services closer even in the most challenging routes,” the India Post said.
The test flight of the drone was undertaken on May 16, covering a stretch of 23 kilometres between Karjat and Matheran—a hilly region characterised by steep elevations reaching up to 800 meters and frequent rainfall, which often hampers conventional road transport.