Locusts: drone remedy

When our science and technology minister announced on Friday that Pakistan has joined the league of nations making their own drones, we had little reason to discard the statement as his usual bombast and posturing. The country has indeed achieved this milestone in a highly competitive and technical field. Pulling off this feat goes to rectify the impression that the country lags behind in the technology sector. After ‘Made in Pakistan’ ventilators, the Ministry of Science and Technology with the cooperation of the private sector has completed the process of manufacturing drones for elimination of locusts and assist police surveillance.

“Initially, 30 drones will be used to spray in fields for locust control as effective tool against the insect as spraying through big airplanes in the field is not possible,” Federal Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said while talking to the media in Islamabad. He said that 25 drones can spray against locust in a big area at a time, and around 25 drones can easily spray on 10 to 20 acres of land. The minister also examined the drones and witnessed them conducting spray. “Besides agriculture, drones can be used by police for surveillance also,” he said, adding that drone technology would also be used for surveillance on Islamabad and by Motorway police, and the use of drones in Karachi would help reduce the increasing street crimes.

The National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation has already been tasked to focus on manufacturing drones, according to the federal minister. Before the coronavirus outbreak, he said, “we were not producing any of the equipment on our own – be it gloves, masks or protective shields, but now the country is capable enough of manufacturing 99% of the medical equipment to deal with this challenge.” After eating humble pie on moon-sighting issue, as his ‘scientific’ forecast about Eid falling on July 31 proved untrue, Fawad has found something to celebrate about.