Indian Railways Drone based Surveillance System
Indian Railways has introduced Drone based Surveillance System for better security. The department has plan to employ large number of drones. So far the Railway Protection Force has procured 9 drones at a cost of Rs. 32 Lakhs. Currently this security system will be implemented at Central Railway, South Eastern Railway, Central Railway and South Western Railway.
Railway Mumbai Division procured two Ninja UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). These are used at areas like station premises, Railway track sections, yards, workshops, etc. The department trained four persons to operate these drones.
The areas of service of drones are to be increased in future. These comes with features like Real Time Tracking, Video Streaming and may be operated on Automatic Fail Safe Mode. Keeping in view of benefits, Railway Protection Force (RPF) has decided to procure more such devices. It is about to procure seventeen (17) more drones in future which will cost around Rs. 97.52 Lakhs.
Drone flying needs a trained operator to fly them. Except nano categorਬ, all other categories need registration of drones. RPF is providing training to 19 of its personnel. Out of these four persons have got license to fly drones.
Benefits of Having Drone based Surveillance System in Railways
- Drone security system is a cost effective way.
- It needs least manpower to control it.
- This will be helpful in surveillance on criminal and anti-social activities inside railway premises.
- Drone equipped with camera are able to cover larger areas.
Drone and Its Uses
Drone is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) used for various purposed these days. These are majorly used in areas like agriculture, delivery and for security purposes. Other common uses include at marriages for making movies, to inspect buildings where human approach is difficult.
National Drone Policy of India allows following categories of Drones in India
- Nano:- These are less than or equal to 250 grams weight
- Micro: This falls between 250 grams and 2 kg
- Small: Between 2 kg and 25 kg
- Medium: Between 25 kg and 150 kg
- Large: Greater than 150 kg
