Kerala Police's plan to buy UAVs hits an air pocket
KOCHI: A year since they first floated the idea, Kerala Police are yet to finalise on a model of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for purchasing, though many companies have conducted detailed product presentation before a panel of experts.
Officers with the state home department said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has imposed certain restrictions on UAVs with additional technical features and said model-specific approval is needed for the purchase.
The decision to buy UAVs was made after the department came under severe criticism for hiring drones from private parties for security-related assignments.
Police have been increasingly using drones for surveillance and crowd management. They were used effectively during the last Sabarimala annual pilgrimage season when the situation became really tense following large-scale protests by Hindu outfits against the Supreme Court verdict that allowed the entry of women into the hill shrine.
Home Department officials said they need to get specific approval from the Union Government for the high-tech model of UAVs they have shortlisted for consideration.
“Many firms have presented their products but we have, so far, not finalised the purchase,” said ADGP (headquarters) S Aananthakrishnan.
Though Kochi-based Srishti Robotics presented a model, developed as per Cyberdome’s technical specifications, the expert panel has not inked the deal.
“We made a model as per their technical requirement and presented it before the state police. We haven’t received a nod yet from the state police for its production,” said a Srishti executive. Cyberdome is the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model cyber support wing of Kerala Police.
The police initiated the tendering process for the purchase of UAVs in January 2018.