‘Drone technology to weed out thana culture’

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said that drone-based surveillance system on motorways and adaptation of this latest technology by motorway police were big milestones for the country.

He was speaking at the launching on Wednesday of ‘Drone Patrolling, Body Worn cameras and PSV Management System’ at Motorway (M-2) Islamabad Toll Plaza.

The S&T minister said drone technology would facilitate the monitoring of vehicles at the toll plaza, facilitate travellers and increase the motorway police revenue and help reduce accidents on motorways. Earlier, vehicles speed was being monitored at specific places, drone technology will make the surveillance system more effective. He mentioned 43 states in the USA had shifted 70 per cent of their police surveillance system on drones.

The minister said Islamabad motorway police was the country’s first police force to introduce the latest technology. In past years, Islamabad Police had spent Rs20 million annually on patrolling, this cost would be significantly reduced besides addressing environmental pollution by using a drone-based surveillance system.

He emphasised the need to create technology wings in the police initially in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. He said drone technology was the best solution to deal with Karachi’s street crimes issue.

The S&T minister said the country’s drone industry in 2020 was worth about Rs 22.34 billion and expected to grow to Rs70 billion in the next seven years. He added that Pakistan should have been exporting drones worth a billion dollars, but it was unfortunate that there was a ban on drone technology in the civilian sector. This was a major stumbling block in attaining this objective.

Fawad Chaudhry said drone technology would be an integral part of our agriculture sector in the next three to five years and would totally transform it. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had always supported and extended special cooperation in the implementation of drone technology. He said a Drone Authority Ordinance was being promulgated which would regulate the manufacturing and import of drone technology in the country.

The minister said Rescue 15 call services would be connected to drones soon so that the drones could reach the place of the incident quickly. He also termed the indigenous body-worn cameras introduced for motorway police as a great contribution and urged the country’s 14 other police forces to adopt such technologies. He said only technology could change the prevailing "Thana culture" in the country.

Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed said the National Highways and Motorway Police had taken another step towards national service. He commended Inspector General of National Highways and Motorway Police Dr Syed Kaleem Imam for his efforts to make the project a reality.

Inspector General of National Highways and Motorway Police Dr Syed Kaleem Imam in his address said the main purpose of the use of body-worn cameras is to improve the functioning of National Highways and Motorways police officers, reduce complaints, provide audio/video evidence of any accident, the live recording of traffic management, modern policing on motorways and highways.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2021.