Mumbai, Jun 25 (PTI) Deep tech startup BonV Aero on Wednesday said the Indian Army deployed its Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) drone to support rescue operations following the landslide in Lachen, Sikkim, early this month.
The deployment followed the Army’s immediate need for a reliable solution to scan debris in an inaccessible, high-altitude region, it added.
The Bhubaneswar-based BonV Aero had developed its UAV platform specifically for sub-surface scanning in complex environments.
Within 24 hours of the incident, the Army mobilised the system to operate in Lachen, approximately 123 km from Gangtok, it said.
Using GPR, the drone conducted aerial surveys over unstable terrain, identifying two sub-surface anomalies at depths of 0.76 metres and 0.015 metres, BonV Aero said.
These findings were later confirmed through excavation, which revealed human remains at both locations, it said, adding that this allowed the rescue teams to avoid broad manual digging, focusing efforts precisely where required.
“The Army’s timely decision to use our platform enabled focused rescue efforts. The response in Lachen indicates that solutions built in one part of the country can address needs elsewhere at the right moment,” BonV Aero CEO Satyabarata Satapathy said.
The drone also transmitted the collected data to a digital map in real-time, helping ground teams align their movements with the sub-surface insights, the company said.
This integration of aerial and data intelligence supported accurate on-site coordination. “In difficult terrain where conventional tools like thermal cameras or canine units face limitations, the UAV collected data without direct contact, minimising risk”, BonV Aero CTO Abinash Sahoo. PTI IAS BAL BAL
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.