Assam floods: IIT Guwahati team to conduct survey of affected areas using drones, aide relief work

Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati will help Assam government in surveying flood affected areas by using drones developed by its startup to aide relief and rescue work. According to officials, state government has reached out to institute to seek its expertise in surveying flood affected areas using drones to assess condition in villages where ro connectivity has been disrupted due to heavy flow of water.

flood situation in Assam remained extremely critical on Sunday with many new localities coming under impact of deluge in several districts of state and overnight incessant rain inundating more areas in Guwahati. Torential rains for past week have thrown normal life out of gear in parts of Assam. Landslides have also been reported from anor half a dozen places in city, including Kamakhya, Kharghuli, Hengerabari, Silpukhuri and Chandmari Colony. Knee-deep water and partially submerged vehicles on submerged ros were seen at many major intersections in capital city. At some places, water levels even crossed waist. approach ro of Guwahati railway station was also inundated. " government has approached us and we will be beginning work as soon as possible. We will be using drones to survey affected areas. Also this exercise is important to help government develop an action plan to prepare better ahe of monsoon season considering area is prone to floods and landslides due to its geographic location," Parmeshwar Iyer, Dean, IIT Guwahati told PTI.

" drones will be used to conduct aerial survey of areas which have been severely affected and some villages where ro connectivity is disrupted due to heavy water flow. exercise will be helpful in identifying areas where people could be stranded, immediate evacuation is needed and relief material needs to be provided," he ded.

Drones developed byIIT Guwahati at its startup venture, Drones Tech Lab, have previously been used for faster data collection in several projects on land survey, river mapping, agriculture, healthcare and disaster management.

"One major challenge in surveying flood affected areas with drones is wind accompanying rivers during floods, hence drones which are equipped to withstand wind speed are needed. se drones have been used in disaster management during incessant flooding in Majuli island of Assam and for dengue prevention in Kolkata," said Debajati Deka, co-founder, Drones Tech Lab. "Before this, we have catered to different markets encompassing several Indian states which include Karnataka, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya to name a few. survey and mapping conducted finds applications in various domains which range from mining activities, wherein using drones exact volume of mine can be assessed with absolute accuracy," he ded.

According to latest updates by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), state was witnessing floods and landslides for last six days, leaving behind a huge trail of destruction everywhere.

In last 24 hours, 32 districts, comprising 118 revenue circles and 4,291 villages, have reported flooding, it said.

Around 31 lakh people have been impacted, and 1.56 lakh of m have taken shelter in 514 relief camps across state.