Dharamshala, Aug. 8 -- A team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, used drone technology to assist in the ongoing efforts to restore power supply in Chhaprahan (Mulandi) village of Nachan assembly constituency of Mandi district, where electricity has been disrupted for the past three days. The team, comprising Pranav Singh and Vikas Sharma under the guidance of Dr Amit Shukla from the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), provided technical assistance in the sagging process of the 11 KV Saranda feeder with the help of drones. Gohar electricity division executive engineer Sumit Chauhan said the spur feeder was damaged when the 33 KV Pandoh-Gohar line suffered heavy damage two days ago, which also affected the 11 KV Saranda feeder over which it passes. As a result, power supply to around 60 houses in Chhaprahan village was completely cut off from August 5. He added that the drone assistance provided by the IIT Mandi team not only accelerated the restoration efforts but also made the work safer and more efficient. "Restoration work is currently underway on a war footing by the field staff, and the board aims to fully restore power supply to Chhaprahan village as soon as possible," he said. Meanwhile, the electricity supply has finally been restored after 35 days in disaster affected Bharad village in Pakhred panchayat of Seraj area in Mandi, that plunged into darkness after June 30 disaster. The task of restoring electricity was extremely challenging due to difficult geographical conditions and complete destruction of the road. Officials said that the team of the power board brought electricity poles by pulling them with ropes and installed each pole by covering about three kilometers on foot on a difficult path. About 25 labourers and departmental personnel worked continuously day and night in this work. Thunag junior engineer Jagdish said that about 60 families live in Bharad village, who were deprived of electricity for the last 35 days. Now the villagers have heaved a sigh of relief as the power supply has been restored. He said that despite heavy rains, broken roads and risky conditions, the department ensured this restoration by doing timely work....