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ASDMA may induct UAVs for disaster management

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 28 - The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) is likely to introduce unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) soon as part of its mechanism to handle the flood-related disaster.

As part of the initiative, a few days ago the ASDMA approached the North Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC)), an entity of ISRO, located at Umiam, Meghalaya to submit a proposal on the application of UAVs in different fields of disaster management from the context of Assam.

Recently, based on the request made by the ASDMA, the NESAC has submitted a detailed proposal on the different types of UAVs and how these UAVs can be utilised for disaster response, rescue and relief management in flood, landslide, earthquake, storm and other types of disasters.

The UAV, popularly known as drone, is an airborne system or an aircraft operated remotely by a human operator or autonomously by an onboard computer. There are two broad classes of UAVs � Fixed wing and Rotary based.

The fixed wing UAV can carry bigger sensors as payloads for longer distances with higher endurance and can fly during rough windy conditions. The rotary based UAV is capable for takeoff and landing vertically, hover and perform agile manoeuvring to maintain a visual on a single target for extended periods of time.

�In case of Assam, which is vulnerable to various disasters, UAVs can be effectively utilised to provide high-resolution real time images which can help in the prevention and mitigation measures for reducing the disaster risks,� an official of the ASDMA said.

The official added that in post-disaster situation, UAVs can be used to map the affected areas in high resolution within a short time. The UAV assistance can provide effective measures at different phases of disaster management.

At present, the ASDMA is examining the proposal of NESAC and it is expected that with the nod from the authority concerned, the ASDMA will induct UAVs in its fight against disaster from next year.

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