Application of drones during the covid-19 pandemic by state authorities (Police)

Abstract

The report highlights the operations of the Indian Drone Squad with civil authorities during the COVID pandemic. The report details how the drone industry has been highly regulated for flying in the Indian air space, especially for civilian activities. The drone market in India is still growing with a CAGR of 12.4% from 2020 to 2026 through the utilities in sectors like agriculture and defense. The period of lockdown during the pandemic created an opportunity for Mr. Nikhil Methiya to change the perspective of drones in the eyes of civil authorities and show the useful side of drone operations for civilians – surveillance, sanitisation, announcements and medicine delivery. The drone squad project started with Ahmedabad as a testbed. The SOP of the program was then shared with drone operators of other districts throughout the country for creating a scaled operation. The operations helped the drone community build a good rapport with the civil authorities and also gave them exposure to drone applications for civilian purposes. However, the lack of extrinsic benefits and insurance means that many drone operators do not find this model of operation sustainable. Hence, a requirement for a nationwide SOP emerges for the success of the program over a long run. The report also shares the IT governance model which can be utilized by Indian Drone Squad for scaling up while satisfying all the stakeholders.