Citing operational and logistical difficulties in using drones at border areas, Red Zone, etc due to the Drone Rules, 2021, the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) has written to the home ministry seeking exemption.
According to the officials, a meeting was also held on Tuesday where all forces, including Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), discussed the problems they are facing due to multiple clauses of the drone policy and restricting use of drones.
All border areas are “red zone” and no-one can fly drones except the armed forces without a prior approval from the concerned authorities. The police forces also have to send details to the authorities in case of any secret operation. For example, during anti-Naxal or anti-terror operations, forces sometimes get exposed as the rules require them to share sensitive details such as routes, the purpose for using the drone, an official said.
“Red zone” means the airspace of defined dimensions above the land areas or territorial waters of India, or any installation or notified port limits specified by the Central government beyond the territorial waters of India, within which the unmanned aircraft system operations will be permitted only by the Central government.
Also, one has to give details about the route drones, and the purpose for which a drone will be used, according to the Drone Rules, 2021.
Officials say in case of patrolling and operation at borders, it is impossible to fulfil the requirements of drone rules. Officials also said following the policy will also dent the surprise element during the operation, and may also expose force movement.
“In case we want to check some area during the night hours or provide some life-saving drugs or anything through drones, we need to submit details and routes. Forces are required to be exempted from drone rules for national security,” a senior ADG level official told News18.
According to sources, letters have been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) multiple times regarding the exemption from the drone policy.
Another senior official told News18 that there are many clauses in the policy, which are giving a “headache” to the CAPFs to operate drones.
“There are many clauses in the policy, which are making tough for the Armed police forces to use drones even in borders. One such clause is that the operator of the drone must be carrying a licence and it would be tough to have only licenced drone operators specially in the Naxal and Kashmir zones. Also, the third party insurance is mandatory. Nobody can carry anything or fly at various zones,” a senior official told News18.
The official further said to operate sizable drones in border and Naxal areas, one requires multiple approvals as per the drone rules, which is not the case with the armed forces.
“Forces are involved in operations, patrolling and security, and require all size of drones to operate in sensitive areas for various reasons. But fulfilling all requirements of drone rules is hampering operations and security,” the official added.
The DigitalSky platform is an airspace map for unmanned aircraft system operations segregating the entire airspace of India into the red, yellow and green zones, with a horizontal resolution equal or finer than 10 metres.
Before commencing an unmanned aircraft system operation, a remote pilot shall mandatorily verify the digital sky platform for any notification or restriction applicable to unmanned aircraft system operations in the intended area of operation. No person shall operate an unmanned aircraft system in a red zone or yellow zone without prior permission. No prior permission shall be required for operating an unmanned aircraft system in a green zone, subject to the provisions of rule 21, according to the drone rules.
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