Punjab govt arranges drone to airlift people from flood-hit areas

What can be termed a major breakthrough in relief and rescue operations in the Punjab, the provincial government has arranged an airlift drone with the capacity to lift a person weighing up to 200 kilograms and shift him or her to a safe location, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

The Punjab interior secretary has directed that the drone be sent to the flood-affected areas of Multan.

Before sending it to southern Punjab, the Civil Defence conducted test flights of the drone in Lahore, while the interior secretary has said that the decision has been taken to purchase 10 more such drones for the Civil Defence. “It is the first of its kind airlift drone service in Pakistan,” he has said, adding, “It has the capacity to reach out to the people in most dangerous and inaccessible areas.” 

The secretary has further said that the personnel of the Civil Defence are the frontline soldiers during times of floods and other calamities because they save the precious lives of people. 

On the other hand, he has added, the registration of people in the Civil Defence’s Resilience Force as volunteers continues. “Only during the ongoing week, more than 4,000 volunteers have registered themselves with the Force,” he has said, adding that citizens could get themselves registered on online portal VCD.HOME.GOP.PK. 

Reporter: Qaiser Khokhar