Drone in KIA red zone sets off alarm bells, ICMR, sister institute to be booked

BENGALURU: The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and one of its institutions landed in trouble for flying a drone into the red zone or no-go zone of the Kempegowda International Airport on Tuesday, which is a violation of the norm that no unscheduled flying object should be flown in the 5 km radius of the airport.

The error was committed by the National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), which operates out of the ICMR campus on Poojanahalli Road close to the Trumpet leading to the airport. The Airport police have approached a local court and are waiting for its permission to book a case against ICMR and NCDIR. ICMR is an apex body for the promotion of biomedical research. 

Trespass of Red Zone a sensitive matter: Official

A senior ICMR official said, “We had hired an agency to do a video shoot within our 5-acre campus for inhouse purposes. It was meant to be within our premises, but the drone seems to have veered away and gone close to the airport on Tuesday afternoon. Security agencies at the airport immediately noticed the drone and it was flown down. Permission is needed to operate the drone near the airport, but we did not have that.”

A top security official said that such trespass is a sensitive matter and is viewed extremely seriously.

“The drone entered the Red Zone, whi ch i s strictly offlimits. One needs to get permission from the Civil Aviation Ministry for it. This is the second such incident in the Red Zone in the last 45 days. The previous violation too was by a government organisation,” he added without giving details.

A police source said, “The matter has been taken to the Devanahalli magistrate’s court. As soon as it gives us the permission, we will go ahead and book an FIR under Section 188 of the CrPC against both NCDIR and ICMR for violation of the government circular.” Section 188 relates to disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant which tends to cause danger to human life, health or safety.

Capital anarchy

Northern parts of Bengaluru saw unprecedented flooding on Monday night, hitting headlines. Here are the reasons for deluge. 

1. No single body to take responsibility and complete drain and other works 

2. Increasing concretisation and loss of green cover 

3. No strict enforcement of rain water harvesting rule 

4. Kalyanis and check dams not managed. In many areas, they do not even exist