This drone is delivering medicines, collecting blood samples and spraying sanitizers in Telangana

• Hyderabad-based startup Marut drones came up with a prototype of contactless delivery of medicines; collection of blood samples for testing; and spraying sanitizer.
• In Telangana’s Karimnagar, where 11 people (10 Indonesians and one local) had tested positive, the startup partnered with the municipal corporation to spray sanitizers.
• Drones are also being used by the Karimnagar police to keep a check on the curfew.

Everyone saw the viral video of the boy asking out a girl in the times of Coronavirus – using a drone! In San Francisco, a video of a drone being used to deliver toilet paper too, went viral.

Closer home, in the times of social distancing, Hyderabad-based startup Marut drones came up with an innovative way for contactless delivery of medicines, collection of blood samples for testing; along with spraying sanitizers!

The startup has successfully demonstrated to the government of Telangana and the Ministry of Civil Aviation, as to how it can do all of the above without any human contact!

“Drones can be particularly used for disinfectant spraying, monitoring the public for crowd control and medicine delivery. They can complement disease control measures undertaken by the government and make the fight against COVID19 effective, efficient, fast, safe and less labour intensive,” Prem Kumar Vislawath, co-founder of Marut Drones told Business Insider.

In Telangana’s Karimnagar, where 11 people (10 Indonesians and one local) tested positive, the startup partnered with the municipal corporation to spray sanitizers.

“Disinfectants were sprayed at the district collectorate, municipal corporations, district hospital, bus stations, auto stands, Markets, Police Commissionerate and farmers’ markets. The work was completed at a rapid pace which enables us to cover larger areas necessary in present times,” said Vislawath.

Not just that, drones were also used by the Karimnagar police to monitor curfew and ensure that nobody was loitering on the streets.

Marut Drones has now also applied for a grant for Covid-19 innovations. While drone delivery is currently not allowed in India, the startup is hoping that in view of the trying times, these rules will be relaxed soon.

“The ‘Emerging Technologies Wing’ under the Telangana government has recommended that this initiative can be further expanded in Hyderabad, where drones can be used effectively in disinfecting public places such as roads, bus stations, railways, MMTS stations, streets, parks, factories, warehouses etc., with high possibility of virus exposure,” said Vislawath.

The startup has also built India’s first drone to eradicate mosquitoes, larvae and water hyacinth on lakes; as well as autonomous drones that spray on agricultural fields. They use an AI platform to identify mosquito-borne diseases and the areas where they breed. For the same, they have already partnered with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and have been working with them for a year.

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Coronavirus cases in India