Drone aid mission brings relief to stranded residents in Wellampitiya

By Tahaan Jayewardene and Poojathmi Rivithma  

The situation in the Wellampitiya area on Monday, where rising floodwaters, blocked roads and left residents stranded, motivated four citizens and a drone operations company to step up to the challenge and deliver dry rations to residents in need.   

People are stranded without provisions in Wellampitiya, with some residents unreachable by boat. Four concerned citizens; Dinusha Dissanayake, Nishantha Welgamage, Bimalee Edirisinghe, and Rtd Brigadier Shamal Senarath took it upon themselves to organize dry ration parcels for stranded locals. They ran into a major problem, however.   

“We are not from Wellampitiya,” said Dissanayake. She knows some of the people who are stranded, and was updated about the situation, saying, “We found that they were completely inaccessible by boat.” Wondering what to do, they decided to reach out to a drone operator, realizing they needed to send the parcels by air.   

“From the point where the boat cannot go any further, we will send the goods by drone,” she explained before the operation took place on Monday.   

A four-member team from Drone Mudiyanse (Pvt) Ltd, carried out the operation. According to the lead

Drone operator (two operators were present), two drones were used. One was used to carry the dry ration parcels, and the other used for inspecting and finding a route to fly the delivery drone, and a safe landing area for it. Once a landing location was found, three separate delivery trips were made to split up the weight to ensure safety, taking the drone’s distance and connection limitations into account.   

The drone operator said despite all difficulties, including the issues with finding a place for the drone to take off, they were able to successfully deliver the dry rations packets to the designated landing location where people in the area could reach, while maintaining safety especially at the time of landing the drone.   

The drone operator said that their team wants to continue helping people affected by the climate disaster by delivering food, but that to do this they need support from authorities. Especially when it comes to getting approval, coordinating such operations, and finding and locating people who need support, he explains.   

“Sometimes cooked food packets spoil before reaching people, [and] you can see at the junction how many food packets are thrown away,” said Edirisinghe. She adds that people need dry rations the most, and providing dry rations avoids wastage, especially seeing how a lot of cooked food packets are going to waste.   

Wellampitiya, a low-lying suburb in Colombo, is among the worst-hit areas in the city due to the recent flood disaster.