Noida traffic police gets two drones to keep an eye on snarls

The drones will be used to survey all city roads and keep a tab on congestion. This will help the police to respond promptly and regulate traffic.

The traffic police got two drones from the police headquarters in Lucknow on Monday for better traffic management in the Gautam Budh Nagar district. The drones will be used to survey all city roads and keep a tab on congestion. This will help the police to respond promptly and regulate traffic. The traffic police said the drones can fly up to 50 metres and survey area in a two-kilometre radius.

According to the traffic police, these drones can fly up to 50 metres and survey area in a two-kilometre radius. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

“A two-kilometre radius is good enough and we can get a better and clearer picture of roads. This will help us in sending immediate ground reports and responding quickly,” said Sanjay Singh, superintendent of police (SP), traffic.

The drones will be used daily, the police said. “Cost of each drone is approximately Rs. 10 lakh. As far as resolution is concerned, the higher it flies, the clearer the picture will be. The drain will be stationed at the police headquarters in Sector 14A, Noida,” a police spokesperson said.

According to traffic police, traffic congestion on major roads such as DND Road, Chilla Road and Noida-Greater Noida Expressway are a routine affair and drone surveillance will help mitigate this.

“For instance, if we know the traffic is getting choked on the expressway, we can send a team of additional traffic constables there immediately,” the SP said.

For the past three months, the city police have been planning to get drones for better traffic management. A few companies had given demonstrations of the unmanned aerial vehicles in February.

Gautam Budh Nagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kiran Sivakumar said, “Our aim is to survey traffic situation frequently and act accordingly. The drones with high definition cameras will send us pictures of areas that we want to monitor and we will take the needful action later.”

Drones will also help the police in other ways, including monitoring areas in case of mob violence and other emergencies.

Encroachments of roads and service lanes; illegal parking and crimes such as chain snatching are some of the issues plaguing the city at present.