Drones To Gather Data For Upcoming Delhi-Meerut Rapid Transit System

By Published October 19, 2020

Drones will be used for gathering geographical data for the upcoming Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on its website. The data gathered from the drones will be used to develop a web-based Geographical Information System (GIS) platform for the project. The Ministry and airline regulator DGCA have given a conditional exemption — valid until December 31, or the operationalisation of the Digital Sky platform — to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation, which is in-charge of the RRTS project, for deploying the drones. Amber Dubey, joint secretary at the Civil Aviation Ministry and in-charge of the drones division, in a statement, said that this will help NCRTC in conducting “effective aerial surveillance”, and “project planning”. NCRTC will still have to obtain separate clearances from local administration, Home Ministry, Defence Ministry, Indian Air Force, and the Airport Authority of India before deploying the drones. The organisation will also have to obtain a separate permission from the DGCA to conduct aerial photography. The drone itself — SPIDEX-600 — has been developed by Bengaluru-based Edall Systems, and is the only model which can be used for this mapping exercise. The drone will have to have adequate level of insurance coverage  to cover any damages in case of an accident. The drones can only fly from sunrise to sunset, and in the visual line of sight of the pilot, that is, the drone will have to be directly visible to the pilot while in flight. The Regional Rapid Transit…