VIHANGAM Drone Technology and Safety Equipment

February 4, 2023

In 2021, the Aviation Ministry permitted the CMPDI (Central Mine Planning and Design Institute) to use drone technology in the coal fields of India. Following the order, the Mahanadi coal fields in Odisha operating under the coal ministry recently introduced drones in their fields. The drone system and its portal have been named VIHANGAM. Under this, authorized persons can access drones at an internet speed of 40 Mbps.

MCL introduced Robotic Nozzle Water Sprayer

Apart from drone technology, the MCL also introduced a Robotic Nozzle Water Sprayer. The robot is used in dust suppression and fire fighting. The robot can reach heights of 70 meters and spray water in the form of mist. It also has a rotating nozzle. Its tank capacity of 28 kilolitres. The dust from mining activities disperses in the air and increases Particle pollution. Long-term exposure to these particles and inhaling them continuously leads to lung-related problems. A human can only inhale particles that are less than 10 microns in size. The dust particles from coal fields are huge compared to the permissible size and are visible to the naked eye. Therefore, it is essential to spray water to push the dust to the ground. As the dust particles become wet, they become heavy and settle down to the ground by gravity.

Role of Drones in coal fields

Drones provide information about mining conditions and information about quarry.
They aid in data collection
Aerial photography
Mine mapping
Real-time updates about mining operations
Stockpile management
Inspection, monitoring
Tailing dam management: Dams used to store by-products from the mining process are called tailing dam

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