Forest Department to pilot the use of drones and unmanned vehicles for fire management
To modernise its response to wildfires, the Forest Department plans to carry out a pilot study deploying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in select forest areas. The trial is aimed at assessing the effectiveness of these advanced machines in detecting and controlling forest fires.
The plan comes as forest fires grow more frequent and intense, particularly in ecologically fragile zones where traditional firefighting methods can endanger human life and are often hampered by difficult terrain.
As part of the pilot, UAVs, equipped with high-resolution RGB and thermal sensors, will conduct real-time aerial surveillance, verify fire alerts, and transmit precise location data to ground teams and command centres. UGVs, on the other hand, will be fitted with firefighting tools such as high-pressure water cannons and fire-retardant dispensers to support on-ground containment and post-fire assessment.
An official said the goal of using these machines is to stop fires from causing too much damage, protect the ecology, and help the department better handle such disasters.
The department will also conduct training programmes for its personnel, focusing on the operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of UAVs and UGVs. Based on the results of the pilot, a phased rollout is planned across other vulnerable forest regions.
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