In the flood-ravaged hills of Nepal, drones are doing something far beyond their traditional role of taking aerial photographs or mapping — carrying the dead home.Seven bodies were airlifted by drones this week from Devighat-3 in Nuwakot to Devighat-5, from an area so difficult and dangerous to navigate that rescuers could not safely reach it, according to a report published in The Kathmandu Post newspaper on Wednesday.It was “perhaps their most unusual role yet”, the report said.The drone team included personnel from Nepal Police, Nepal Army, and drone manufacturing company GarudX.The unusual operation is the latest example of how drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are quietly becoming an extra pair of hands and eyes in Nepal’s disaster response.From ferrying food and medicines to cut-off communities, searching for survivors in inaccessible areas and even airlifting bodies from locations too dangerous for rescuers to reach, drones in Nepal are rapidly shedding their image as mere tools for photography and mapping and emerging as an unlikely lifeline during disasters.In Devighat-3, one of the worst-hit areas, an AI-enabled drone recently flew over stranded villagers, its loudspeaker asking them a series of simple questions: Do you have water? Food? Medicine?Villagers were asked to raise their hands in response.”Based on the villagers’ response, we make an assessment for what they require and send the delivery through drones,” Milan Pandey, director of Airlift Technology and a drone pilot, was quoted as saying by the Post report.The drone also asked people to provide a phone number or address, which could be written on a placard or even in the mud, allowing operators to identify their location and requirements.The system has particular value in a disaster like the recent floods, where roads and bridges have been washed away and communities separated by swollen rivers can no longer reach one another.”We supplied at least 1.5 tonnes of emergency supplies, including food, to the affected areas in three days,” Pandey said.In another operation, a drone was flown inside the tunnel of the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project, where scores of workers are believed to have been trapped following the floods, the report said.”We reached platform 1 of the project and saw the tunnel filled with water and rocks. It’s risky and challenging to get inside,” said drone operator Adarsha Bhusal.The drone found no signs of life inside the tunnel, he said.Around 900 workers have been reported missing at various hydropower projects along the Trishuli and Bhote Koshi rivers, according to the Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal.The country’s drone ecosystem began taking shape after the 2015 earthquake, when international agencies brought the technology for damage assessment and recovery operations. Much of that capability is now being developed and operated by Nepali companies and young drone enthusiasts.Nepal’s growing expertise is also beginning to find applications outside the country. Its private sector has provided drone-based services in Bhutan for multi-hazard risk assessment, according to the World Bank.There are, however, limits. Payload capacity, range and weather conditions can restrict their use.But where roads disappear, rivers become impassable or terrain is simply too dangerous for humans, operators say the impact of a relatively small aircraft can be disproportionate to its size.It’s the cheapest mode of transporting supplies compared to choppers, operators say.”For a country repeatedly exposed to earthquakes, floods, landslides and mountain hazards, the rise of locally developed drone technology could mark a significant shift in how Nepal responds to disasters – putting eyes, cargo and rescue capability into places where human access is simply too dangerous,” Pandey said.Airlift Technology, which assembles drones in Kathmandu using imported components, says the next step is enabling the technology to be used more widely.”We just need an appropriate policy to promote such a life-saving machine,” Pandey said.