BENGALURU: Even as police in Bengaluru and Mysuru are using drones to keep a watch over lockdown violators, the sole drone used by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Bengaluru Division to patrol railway tracks has stopped operations after suffering a bird-hit while on duty. It is expected to resume surveillance duties next week.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Chief Security Commissioner, RPF, SWR, R S Chauhan, said, “The drone was hit by a bird. So, it is not being used for operations presently.”
Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, Bengaluru unit of RPF, Debashmita Chattopadhyay Banerjee said, “The incident took place last week but we are not sure of the date. The drone was flying above the tracks one evening between Bengaluru City and Nayandahalli when the incident occurred. The bird escaped while the drone automatically came down and landed safely. The exact height it was flying is not clear.”
The drone is operated from the control room at the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna railway station.
The landing gear of the drone has been impacted in the hit. “Recalibration of the gear is being done presently. It is expected to hit the skies next week,” she said. The division has another drone but that was taken off operations some time ago as it was an old model.
“Though Railways is running goods trains, some assume that train operations have completely stopped and use the railway track as a short cut to rush between different places. Anti-social elements also gather under cover of dark on sides of tracks. The drone can send us images using which we can send alerts,” the SDSC said
The division had decided to procure four more drones with in-built face recognition software, two each for Yesvantpur and KSR station. “Tenders were about to be placed but they have been temporarily postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak,” Banerjee added.