ITBP, army to be trained in use of camera-fitted drones

DEHRADUN: Drone cameras will assist in manual observation of the activities (on IndiaChina border). The mechanism will be of help especially in areas where visibility is obstructed owing to mountains.

SANJAY SINGH, DIG, ITBP

Jawans of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the army will now be trained to usehigh-resolutioncamerafitted drones to monitor any possible intrusions by the Chinese Army of the 216km-long border between the two countries in Uttarakhand, senior officials said.

Although the primary responsibility of the newly set up Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA) is to train ITBP and army personnel, the officials said it will have courses for officials from other departments and students.

Amit Sinha, director, Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA), said a centre of excellence will also be used to train officials from other departments and students from premier engineering institutes.

“It will be a first of its kind training centre in the country, where officials from different departments will be trained in using drone cameras,” he said, adding the proposed centre has been set up under the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC).

He said apart from personnel, the students from different engineering institutes like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) would also be trained in using drone cameras. “We are preparing different training modules for users in keeping with the job related requirement of students and the professional requirement of officials and experts from different departments.”

Officials, for instance, would be able to use drone cameras to “keep a watch on poachers or subversive elements who take shelter in forests that are otherwise, not easily accessible” owing to their tough terrain.

He, however, refused to comment on whether the ITBP personnel to be trained at the proposed centre in using drone cameras would use those machines to keep a watch on the India-China border touching the hill state.

Sanjay Singh, ITBP’s deputy inspector general (DIG), Dehradun sector, said if the ITBP personnel would use drone cameras after training they would be able to keep a close watch on the India China border. “Surely that will help. Drone cameras will assist in manual observation of the activities (on the India-China border). The mechanism will be of help especially in areas where visibility is obstructed owing to mountains,” Singh said.

ITBP officials said drone cameras would help in alerting in advance the personnel about the possible intrusions by the Chinese army.