The air delivery of 1.5 kg of medicines to a remote location marked the unveiling of India’s first drone station for transporting drugs at the Jengjal Subdivisional Hospital in Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills district on Monday.
The drone, a certiplane X3 designed by a start-up, took 36 minutes to deliver the payload at the Pedaldoba Primary Health Centre, almost 2 hours less than the time taken by a semblance of a road.
“This drone has a capacity of flying with a payload of up to 4 kg. We expect larger drones by March 2023 for delivering up to 25 kg of medicines, anti-snake venom vials and other healthcare necessities,” Ramkumar S., project director of Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project, said.
A fleet of high-capacity drones would help the State government execute plans to scale up air transportation for farmers in remote areas.
“Flying seeds to farmers and transporting their agricultural produce to the markets are some of the possibilities,” he said.
“The terrain often comes in the way of providing services to the people in Meghalaya. The Jengjal Drone Station should hopefully be the first of many such stations for ensuring certain services to people in remote areas,” State’s Health Minister James P.K. Sangma said, after inaugurating the station.
Jengjal, 32 km from Tura, Meghalaya’s largest urban centre after capital Shillong, was chosen as a strategic drone station for drug delivery to accessibility-challenged rural healthcare facilities within a radius of 50 km.
The station was established almost a year after a pilot project to deliver drugs by drones was undertaken successfully from a civil hospital to two primary health centres in the State’s West Khasi Hills district in November 2021.
The drug delivery is being handled by TechEagle, a third-party drone logistic service provider comprising ex-IIT students.
