Jammu and Kashmir : Ban on use, possession and transportation of drones in Srinagar

Authorities banned the storage, sale, possession, use and transportation of unmanned aerial vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar district. An order issued by Srinagar district magistrate Mohammad Aijaz said, it is mandatory to stop the use of drones in all social and cultural gatherings in order to secure air space near important installations and highly populated areas so as to avoid the risk of loss of life and damage. to eliminate any risk.

This order has been issued under section 144 of CrPC. The order stated that decentralized air space access is to be regulated in view of the recent incidents of misuse of drones posing a threat to the security infrastructure as reported by the media and other credible sources.

The order said, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has provided draft guidelines/standard operating protocols to regulate the use of drones in terms of weight classification, unique identification numbers, height/altitude restrictions, speed restrictions, enforcement/panel actions, etc. .

The order said that government departments using drones for mapping, surveying and monitoring in the areas of agriculture, environmental protection and disaster mitigation shall inform the local police station before undertaking any such activity in public interest.