Amid fears that drones could be used to stage a terrorist attack, Delhi Police today issued a notification saying operation of any unmanned aircraft systems by public is prohibited and anybody violating it will be strictly dealt with.
The decision is being seen as a preemptive move ahead of the upcoming Independence Day celebrations.
"General Public is hereby informed that as per orders of Director General, Civil Aviation, operation of any unmanned aircraft systems by member of public is prohibited. Violation of this order with attracts strict legal action," a senior police official said today.
DGCA had in October last year restricted civil use of drones/unmanned aircraft system.
Aviation sector regulator DGCA is working on formulating interim operational guidelines for the civil use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Lok Sabha was informed in March.
The aviation regulator, while issuing a public notice, had said that its use, besides being a safety issue, also poses security threat.
In the recent past intelligence agencies have issued warnings that terrorists groups could use UAVs to stage a terror attack. The risk increases on important occasions like January 26 and August 15.
The airspace over cities in India has high density of manned aircraft traffic, due to lack of regulation, operating procedures/standards and uncertainty of the technology, UAV poses a threat of air collisions and accidents, it had said.
The civil operation of UAV will require approval from the Air Navigation Service provider, Defence and Home Ministries and other concerned security agencies, besides DGCA, the regulator had said while announcing the ban on launch of UAV.
