Govt may allow private air traffic controllers to manage drones in lower airspace
Bengaluru, Feb 3: The government is considering allowing air traffic controllers, operated by private entities, to manage drone operations in the Indian airspace below 1,000 feet, said a senior Civil Aviation Ministry official on Wednesday.
"The drone ATC (air traffic controller) will be called UTM (unmanned traffic management) and it will collaborate with the manned traffic management, which is being handled currently as a sovereign function by the Airports Authority of India (AAI)," said Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The AAI, which works under the ministry, manages all manned aircraft operations in the Indian airspace. A passenger aircraft generally flies at a height of around 30,000 feet.
"The airspace below 1,000 feet is lower airspace and it would be the main playground of drones. For that, we may have a system of private ATCs, which would be managed by private operators," Dubey said at a session organised by industry body FICCI at Aero India 2021.
"It could be a government agency or a private agency, it is something that would evolve," he added.
The AAI cannot handle drones because they would be flying at 5 feet to take care of crops to about 1,000 feet in the airspace, Dubey mentioned.
Drone technology is moving way faster than the regulations so we have decided that we need to start a parallel activity, he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Assam Police at Pawan Khera's residence in national capital, Delhi Police assisting
New Delhi (PTI): An Assam Police team on Tuesday is at the Delhi residence of Congress leader Pawan Khera for questioning in connection with a case linked to allegations made against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his family, official sources said.
The team formally informed Delhi Police upon arrival, following which a local police team joined and is assisting in the proceedings, the source said.
The development comes amid a political tussle after Sarma alleged that the Congress used "false information" sourced from a Pakistani social media group to level charges against his wife regarding multiple passports and overseas assets. He termed the allegations an attempt to influence the Assam elections and a punishable offence.
Khera had recently sought clarifications on Sarma's wife's alleged foreign assets, prompting a complaint and subsequent police action.
