With growing fad, drones set to swarm the UP skies
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Most of these drones are being used by professional photographers and hobbyists
RAVI GUPTA, aero modeller
LUCKNOW : Siddharth Yadav, a post graduate student who turned 24 in September, asked his parents for a drone as birthday gift. “Everyone expected that I will ask for a new phone, but I wanted a ‘flying machine’ because I planned to take it on a college trip to the Western Ghats,” said Yadav. Though his family was skeptical, they gifted him an entry level drone.
“Now, even my friends are planning to buy drones and set up their own flying club,” said Yadav.
Yadav’s choice of a drone signals the growing fancy for the ‘flying machine’ among youths, grown-ups, photographers, politicians, start-up entrepreneurs, besides administration and police officials.
“Over 2,000 drones of various sizes – as small as mobile phone to the size of a pet box -- are currently being used for business purpose or entertainment in Uttar Pradesh,” said Ravi Gupta, a Lucknow-based aero modeller, who began flying model planes and now plans to fly drones. “Over 350 drones are in use in the state capital itself,” he said.
Since drones are not produced in India, people are purchasing them online or ordering their parts and assembling them here.
Bulk of these drones being used in the state are below two kgs that, according to the director general of civil aviation (DGCA), are categorised as ‘nano’ or ‘micro’.
“Most of these drones are being used by professional photographers and hobbyists,” Gupta, who himself runs a drone club, said. The members of the club include students, parents, photographers and hobbyists. Some politicians, too, have drone flying as hobby, one of them being Kirti Vardhan Singh, MP from Gonda. Independent MLA from Kunda Raghuraj Paratap Singh and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav have also been seen flying drones on several occasions.
These micro and nano drones can fly up to a height of 300 feet but their operators usually fly them up to 100 feet for safety reasons. “Me and my business partner own a drone that we use for aerial photography that, too, within a limited area,” said Sikander Khan, a Lucknow-based wedding photographer.
Propelled by the frenzy of likes on social media, the demand for aerial photography has grown in recent years. “Ariel photographs are more liked by people because of their unique angle. It is much like the selfie craze,” Sikandar explained.
With advancement in drone controls, hobbyists are using drones as easily as their selfie stick. “The drone I have doesn’t even need a controller to fly and take pictures. I can fly it just with gestures,” said Siddharth Yadav, who also does photography as a hobby.