Tech

Meghalaya launches North-east region’s first drone delivery hub

Meghalaya took the lead in solving the issue of last mile connectivity by launching the North-east’s first Drone Delivery Hub and Network for delivery of vital healthcare products.

Established in partnership with drone delivery start-up TechEagle, the project commenced with the inauguration of Asia’s drone delivery hub at the Jengjal Sub-Divisional Hospital on Monday by James Sangma, Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs.

On Monday itself, the first official drone flight took off from the Hospital and it delivered medicines to Padeldoba PHC. The flight took less than 30 minutes while by road it would have taken two-and-a-half hours.

TechEagle VertiplaneTechEagle Vertiplane
In its first flight the drone delivered vital medicines Padeldoba PHC

The drone used was TechEagle’s Vertiplane X3 Drone and it delivered different healthcare products including snake venom, labetalol, human albumin, cefotaxime (typhoid dose) in its first flight.

The initiative is expected to improve universal access to healthcare in Meghalaya by ensuring the delivery of important supplies like diagnostic samples, drugs, blood and blood components, anti-venoms, and vaccines, quickly and safely to different regions of the State.

On the occasion, Sangma commented: “We are seeing something that is unparalleled in any place of the world. It is a matter of pride for the State of Meghalaya that we would be the first state to institutionalize this initiative and have a system that can be expanded to other areas of the State as well.”

IN Bureau

Recent Posts

China retaliates, increases tariff on US goods to 84 per cent

In a retaliatory move, China on Wednesday announced it will increase its tariff on US…

9 hours ago

President Murmu, Slovakian counterpart Pellegrini agree to work towards strengthening bilateral ties

President Droupadi Murmu held a meeting with her Slovakian counterpart Peter Pellegrini in Bratislava on…

9 hours ago

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan emphasises on food security at BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministerial Meeting

Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, led a…

10 hours ago

Concerned about rhetoric from Bangladesh: EAM Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday expressed concerns about radicalizing tendencies, attacks on minorities,…

11 hours ago

PoGB: Tragic accident in PoGB highlights urgent need for safety as authorities remain unresponsive

A tragic traffic accident in the Bagardo area of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) has once again…

11 hours ago

Balochistan witnesses surge in extrajudicial killings as twelve bodies found in two days

A sharp rise in alleged extrajudicial killings of forcibly disappeared individuals in Balochistan has sparked…

11 hours ago