How Drones Are Assisting In Relief, Rescue Ops In Flood-Hit Andhra Pradesh

At least 17 people in Andhra Pradesh have so far been killed in rain-related incidents and subsequent floods, that have left lakhs of people scampering for daily needs in several districts. The worst affected districts included Vijayawada, NTR, Guntur, Krishna, Eluru, Palnadu, Bapatla, and Prakasam, where thousands of acres of crops have been submerged.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the recent torrential rain and floods in Andhra Pradesh is the "biggest disaster" he has witnessed in the state in his political career.

"We had some events like Hudhud hurricane and Titli cyclone but compared to these, here the human suffering and property loss is the biggest," he told a press conference on Monday.

How Drones Are Assisting In Andhra Floods

The state government and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have now started dropping food packets, water bottles, and other necessities for people in flood-affected areas via drones.

Earlier, drones were only used to get an aerial view of disaster-hit areas. But now, they have made the job easier, faster, and more efficient, saving fuel for choppers that were used before in relief and rescue operations.

Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh said the state government has for the first time deployed drones to deliver relief materials and food to flood-affected people.

"This has made relief operations more efficient and quick," he wrote on X and shared a video of a drone delivering a food packet.

Mr Naidu said eight to nine drones were used to deliver food packets -- which also included biscuits, fruits, milk, and medicines -- to 10,000 people on Monday and assured that up to 35 more drones would be deployed on Tuesday.

In some cases, drones were also used to drop life jackets to people stranded in flooded areas. A boy was able to come out of a flood area because of that life jacket in the Khammam district.