Regulatory safety net being set up to check drones

India is putting a new prior-approval mechanism in place to check unregulated flying of unmanned aerial aircraft, because of their potential to be misused by terrorists.

“It is a cause for worry for every nation, including India, as they can penetrate our air defence. We need to have regulations for which we are working with the ministries of defence, home and civil aviation,” Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said here.

A regulatory safety net is being set up by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in consultation with the Defence and Home ministries under which anybody undertaking those activities would have to inform the district administration and the IAF, which guards the country’s air defence.

“Unregulated flying of drones is a security threat. The new mechanism to check these activities will be operational in a year’s time,” Raha said.

Once the new system is in place, anybody planning to fly a drone have to first inform the district administration, which, in turn, would communicate to the IAF and local police informing them about the flying schedule and purpose.

“Everybody would need sanctions without which one cannot fly. The rules would be issued by the DGCA,” he noted.

Last year, the civil aviation regulator disallowed use of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) by non-governmental agencies and individuals till the time it formulates rules. The regulator said these aircraft posed safety and security threat.

“The airspace over cities in India has high density of manned aircraft traffic. Due to lack of regulation, operating procedures and standards and uncertainty of the technology, UAS poses threat for air collisions and accidents,” it said in a circular issued in October 2014.

An aviation official said the DGCA was aware of unauthorised use of drones and apprehend that there could be untoward incident if the practice was not curbed. “We have warned people against the practice. They need to have permission to use UAS,” he said.

In the US, unmanned aircraft are flying under extremely controlled conditions, performing border and port surveillance by the Department of Homeland Security, helping with scientific research and environmental monitoring by scientific agencies besides supporting public safety by law enforcement agencies.

While manufacturing of drones in India is legally permitted with proper defence licence for military applications, the DGCA order had put all civil applications on hold till the regulations for certification and operation for use of UAV are formulated. Besides the military, paramilitary organisations like CRPF also uses drones for its anti-Maoist operations.