- Humanity will never reject the introduction of a novelty factor vis-à-vis cutting-edge technology, making its presence felt to usher in hitherto unheard-of benefits, is obvious. The perpetual inventions, innovations, advancements, developments, and growth witnessed since time immemorial have always furthered the cause of humankind. Of course, any new changes ushered in must always go through the process of resistance, rejection, and finally acceptance after a thorough dissection from different quarters. Nothing gets embraced just like that is a well-known fact. To establish any invention must invariably be followed by accompanying challenges. How do we preempt such challenges makes for an interesting but essential read. Let’s look at drones.
PC: LinkedIn
- As you are aware, the inventions of drones have served diverse verticals of society, right from the delivery of medicines and essentials to small-scale arms/ammunition to drugs. You name it, and drones are in the thick of action of late. However, what must be disconcerting for law enforcement agencies is the proliferation of unregistered drones posing different challenges that cannot be solved so easily. As such, civilian drones are proving to be a new headache for law enforcement across the country – an unsurprising fallout of drones becoming cheaper and more widely available. In towns and villages in western UP, for example, drones are regularly spotted after sundown transporting anything and everything.
PC: Inc42
- With growing suspicions that these are linked to local thefts or dodgy characters looking to make privacy-violating videos, people have been forced to mount rooftop vigils. Complaints of videography and snooping using drones, especially at sensitive government facilities, have been growing in Tamil Nadu. Other state authorities are also seized of the matter. Further, there are three issues here. First, compliance and enforcement of drone regulations are weak. It’s a no-brainer. To operate a civilian drone in India, one needs to register the drone on the DGCA website, obtain a remote pilot licence, and be aware of flying regulations, including locations of no-fly zones. But most private drone operators don’t bother, and there are lakhs of unregistered ones.
PC: The Financial Express
- Notably, only 32,000 were registered against an estimated 5L-plus as of April this year. Second, despite the import of drones being banned in India, foreign drones – especially illegal Chinese-made make – are found across grey markets throughout the country. These are smuggled across India’s porous borders and dismantled for the journey before being reassembled here. Third, given the rise of the attention economy, drone videos that infringe on privacy are in high demand. Mind you, the sheer number of drones is seriously stretching limited police resources. One solution could be the faster development of the Indian drone industry to lower domestic prices. This will stem imports and perhaps ensure better monitoring of drone use. The SOPs will help too.
