GUWAHATI: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been given the permission to use drones to deliver Covid vaccines in the Northeastern states of Manipur and Nagaland beyond the visual line of sight.
As per reports, the civil aviation ministry has given conditional permission to the ICMR for using drones regarding delivery of vaccines in Manipur and Nagaland upto 300 metres to deliver vaccines. Like Manipur and Nagaland, the ICMR has also been given the same permission for Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had a couple of days back had launched the first-of-its-kind "Medicines from the Sky" project at Vikarabad in Telangana. Under the project, delivery of vaccines and medicines will be done using drones.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai has also been given the permission on using drones for works like research, development and testing purposes inside its premises. Both the ICMR and the IIT have been given conditional exemption from Drone Rules, 2021, a statement from the civil aviation ministry stated.
It may be mentioned that India witnessed a slight dip in new Covid cases yet again as in the last 24 hours 27,254 fresh cases were registered, the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs said on Monday. The country has been reporting a dip in new Covid cases for the past few days.
A total of 28,591 new Covid cases were recorded on Sunday. At the same time, the country reported 219 Covid-related deaths in the last 24 hours, a sharp decline in comparison to Sunday's 338 fatalities. With the number of deaths reported on Monday included, the country's overall Covid-related deaths have risen to 4,42,874. The fatality rate was reported at 1.33 per cent.
Also Watch: