JOIN USTamil Nadu to soon use drones to disinfect state against coronavirus
The battle against coronavirus has been tough for India, especially for the people who strive hard to keep it under control, such as doctors, nurses, policemen and sanitation workers.
Sanitising every nook and corner of an entire city or village can take a toll on one’s own health as well. Cleaning every inch in one day can be challenging, as one person can cover limited space in a day. Sanitising building, especially the high-rises can be challenging as well. The life of a sanitation worker can be at risk, at the same time.
In order to help the workers, the Garuda Aerospace and student engineers from Agni College of Technology in Chennai joined hands with the Tamil Nadu government, and have come up with a bright idea.
They had demonstrated earlier, last week to the Tamil Nadu government, a plan to sanitise the state using drones. Around 500 pilots are to use 300 drones with payloads to disinfect public places like hospitals, metro stations and roads across Tamil Nadu.
The trial run took place at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on March 23 and 24.
The foundation, Garuda Aerospace, is an ISO 9001:2015 & AS9100 REV D certified and is also recognised by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for Drone Pilot Training.
They have earlier provided unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) services to the government, forest department and also the entertainment industry in TN.
“We have 300 drones in our fleet & the overall cost of our fleet is Rs 15 crore. Each drone is worth Rs 5 lakhs.. usually, for our operations, we charge Rs 25,000 but we have cut it down as we want to contribute & serve the people at a time of need,” said Agnishwar, the founder of the Garuda Aerospace.
"By launching this initiative, Tamil Nadu becomes the first state in India to utilise Drone Technology in combating COVID-19,” said Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijaybasker, according to a statement released by Garuda Aerospace.
Recently, the foundation has also bagged a work order from the Chhattisgarh government worth Rs 4.12 lakhs for disinfecting public areas using drones, according to Agnishwar. “We will be spraying 770 acres initially for the above amount but the total order value is Rs 2.3 crores for sanitisation spraying across 180 sq km,” he said.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu as of March 29 is 42, including 6 foreigners and one casualty. The tally in India has crossed the 1000 mark.