Govt to develop drone corridors, seeks proposals

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government has decided to develop drone corridors in the state, especially for remote areas, officials familiar with the matter said.

For this, the Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA), a state government undertaking agency under the administrative control of department of information technology, has also sought proposals from drone operating and manufacturing companies.

Confirming the development, ITDA director Nitika Khandelwal said, “We had a meeting with all stakeholders recently over the drone policy. We sought proposals from drone operating and manufacturing companies over the possible drone corridors in the state. Once we receive these proposals, we will study them and subsequently send them to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) through Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA).”

She said on receiving permission from DGCA, the drone corridors will be developed in state. Khandelwal said the setting up of drone corridors will ensure no disruption in air services due to drones and security in restricted areas on the border.

In April, Uttarakhand Police had joined hands with Gurugram-based drone delivery company Skye Air Mobility for UTM software —an unmanned traffic management system for drones – to check unauthorised drone activities, a police official said.

UTM is a cloud-based aerial traffic management system that provides situational awareness, autonomous navigation, risk assessment, and traffic management to all drone/other aerial mobility operators across the airspace, according to a police official posted at telecom.

The software will be provided to the police for a month on trial basis, the above mentioned official said, adding that all shortcomings will be addressed before it is integrated into the system.