The 'Amaravati Drone Summit 2024' provided the perfect platform for Andhra Pradesh to highlight the successful use of drone technology during the recent floods that ravaged Vijayawada and surrounding areas.
AP Drone Corporation Managing Director, K. Dinesh Kumar, presented a comprehensive case study detailing the key role that drones played in the state's flood disaster management and relief efforts.
Responding to the disaster, the state deployed 437 drones which completed 4000 trips. The exercise was undertaken by 846 skilled professionals. Drones became essential for real-time flood mapping, allowing authorities to monitor inundated areas and assess damage with speed and precision.
The state’s emergency response teams relied heavily on drone footage for quick decision-making, especially focusing on low-lying areas. According to the state government, a control room was established at the NTR District Collectorate, where 20 operators monitored live drone feeds from 22 flood-affected wards, identifying critical issues like crowd distress, garbage piles, dead animals and sanitation problems.
Over a six-day period, the drones delivered more than 1,23,731 relief packages to flood victims. On peak days, such as September 4, drones made as many as 80,630 deliveries. Not stopping at just that, 100 sanitation drones were deployed to spray 3,078 litres of disinfectant over 284 Km of flood-affected areas to prevent the outbreak of diseases.
The state leveraged Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for data analytics by processing information gathered from drone surveillance. Andhra Pradesh also launched a sandbox initiative that offered startups access to drone-collected data to create innovative solutions for disaster management. The Amaravati Drone Summit attracted over 11,000 attendees including 4,000 participants and 62 experts who doubled up as panel speakers.
Visuals of inundated roads and people trapped in houses crying for help dominated news channels and social media after the floods hit the southern state. The Krishna River was overwhelmed, resulting in the worst floods in the last 100 years. Rainfall of over 32 cm was recorded between August 31 and September 1 which displaced over 200,000 people. The floods also paralyzed transportation systems and crippled infrastructure as many commercial establishments were inundated by knee-deep water.