Use Drones More Effectively
Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has called for more effective utilisation of drone applications to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance, situational analysis, crime control, VVIP security, disaster management, etc.
Drone is a layman terminology for Unmanned Aircraft (UA). There are three subsets of Unmanned Aircraft- Remotely Piloted Aircraft, Autonomous Aircraft and Model Aircraft.
As part of the initiatives to make India a global hub for drones under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and in the backdrop of the Union Government rolling out the liberalised Drone Rules 2021, experts suggested the heads of various Ministries promote effective use of the technology.
- Drone system can be used as a symmetric weapon against terrorist attacks.
- Drones can be integrated into the national airspace system.
- Deployment of drones for combat, communication in remote areas, counter-drone solutions can be done.
- Drones can be used for real-time surveillance of assets and transmission lines, theft prevention, visual inspection/maintenance, construction planning and management, etc
- Environment, Forests and Climate Change Ministry: Drones used for anti-poaching actions, monitoring of forests and wildlife, pollution assessment, and evidence gathering.
- Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Power Ministries, have been asked to fly drones for real-time surveillance of assets and transmission lines, theft prevention, visual inspection/maintenance, construction planning and management, etc.
- As a complete replacement to expensive helicopter-based videography, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting could use drones for high-quality videography of events and difficult-to-reach-places at a fraction of the cost and approvals required.
Drone Rules 2021:
- The aim was to create a “digital sky platform” as a business-friendly single-window online system for procuring various approvals: it is an interactive airspace map dividing the country into green, yellow, and red zones.
- It seeks to regulate only the civilian usage of Drones and does not apply to drones used by the naval, military or air forces of the Union.
- The Rules mandate the requirement of obtaining a type certificate, from the Director General to operate the drone.
- No pilot licence would be needed for micro drones for non-commercial use, nano drones and for R&D organisations.
- There would be no restriction on drone operations by foreign-owned companies registered in India.
- Development of drone corridors for cargo deliveries.
Leave a Comment