Anna University officials are mapping the devastation caused by Cyclone Michaung in the city with the help of drones. The data collected can be used in the future to prevent flooding.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Minister T.R.B. Raaja said drones were being used to get “vital incidental data that can be used to tackle pending issues”, help in clean-up work and used in the future to avert a repeat of the current situation.
The post drew the ire of several netizens with some asking why drones weren’t used to provide food and water.
K. Senthil Kumar, chief executive officer of the Tamil Nadu Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Corporation, which is situated in the MIT campus of the University, and a faculty in Anna University, said that four days ago, authorities were advised to be on alert for distributing food. However, the decision was shelved as the city was in the red zone as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. A red zone refers to the airspace above land areas or territorial water of India, and to fly drones, the Union government’s permission is necessary.
A team had mapped around half sq km in Anna Nagar on Thursday to understand the water channels and their water-carrying capacity. Drones are now conducting a survey of the city. “Five teams comprising 15 members are on the field, while 12 are working from the control room,” he said.
Mr. Senthil said a case study was done in Nagapattinam to create a flood simulation model using the tides and rainfall to assess chances of flooding.
On the decision not to distribute food using drones, he said drones can only carry a payload of 10-15 kg, while helicopters could carry 100-200kg. It was decided that drones would be used to deliver drugs in case of distress calls, he added.
Drones have mapped the Pallikaranai marshland, Velachery and north Chennai areas, and the data will be of use in future, Mr. Senthil said.
