Drone use to be streamlined
Visakhapatnam: With the sudden increase in usage of drones for various purposes, the state government is drafting new policy to streamline their use. In the past two years, usage of the drones (various types) increased in good numbers and spread to rural areas too. However, as there is no check on their usage, there are number of complaints being registered over the activity.
According to the ministry of civil aviation, the operators must obtain police permission to use drones for any sort of work. There are five types of drones available in the market (nano, micro, mini, small and large) and the first three types are available in the markets in the range between Rs 35,000 to Rs 3 lakh. The other two small and large drones are available, but cost would be Rs 5 lakh and above.
The event management, photo and videography businessmen, students of various professional courses, agriculture, fishing, real estate developers, builders and rich individuals are using drones for various commercial and security purposes. As there is no licence required for the procurement of the drones, some of the security agencies are also procuring drone cameras to check the security arrangements at private industries and commercial establishments.
Recently, one of the private airlines’ flight faced problem when a drone suddenly came close to Visakhapatnam airport. The pilot immediately informed the ATC and registered a complaint also. During the Airfield Environment Management Committee meeting held on May 23, Joint Collector G Srijana directed the police department to check the usage of the drones in the city.
“As per the norms, permission has to be taken from the district collector and police for drone photography. But, most of the photographers are using drones for photography without obtaining prior permission. According to information, there are over 2,000 drones being operated in the state.
The government is drafting guidelines for usage of drones,” a senior police officer in Amaravati said. Vizag joint commissioner of police Nagendra Kumar said that it is compulsory that the operator must take permission to utilise drones for any purpose.