Centre allows ICMR to conduct feasibility study to deliver Covid-19 vaccines using drones
© Provided by Hindustan Times The ICMR had approached the Centre seeking permission to use drones to deliver COvid-19 vaccines. (Representative Photo/HT)The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday granted conditional exemption to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting feasibility study of Covid-19 vaccine delivery using drones. The ICMR has partnered with IIT-Kanpur for the project.
The Centre said in a release that the exemption will be valid for a period of one year or until further orders.
The ICMR had filed an application in February seeking permission to conduct a feasibility study to deliver Covid-19 vaccines using drones. The government said that the medical research body will have to get clearance on its standard operating procedures (SOPs) from the DGCA.
As per the release, conditional exemption has also been granted to a few entities and civic bodies to carry out study of using drones. These are: the municipal corporations of Dehradun, Haldwani, Haridwar and Rudrapur for preparation of GIS based property database and electronic tax register; the Kota and Katni divisions of West Central Railway for train accident site and maintaining safety and security of the railway assets.
Drones have been very useful in providing last mile deliveries, and reaching places which are difficult to ac. In India, they have been used by authorities in some cities to keep a check at crowd when the Covid-19 pandemic spread last year.
In Ghana, a delivery service Zipline has been using drones to give Covid-19 vaccines to people living in remote areas. According to a report in Forbes, Zipline has partnered with the government of Ghana to provide these vaccines which have been received as part of COVAX - a global initiative to give equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. The initiative is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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