Tiger reserve Palamu is now to seek necessary clearances from MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) and MOD (Ministry of Defence) as director general civil aviation (DGCA) has given no objection certificate (NoC) to PTR for using three UAS (unmanned aircraft system). The UAS is popularly known as drone.
The DGCA has asked the Chief Conservator of Forest cum Field Director PTR to obtain the necessary clearances from MHA and MOD. It was the Pioneer which had first carried the story of PTR going to have 3 drones each of 8 lakhs of rupees. Fund for this has reached PTR but there is no purchase of UAS so far as PTR is to obtain a mandatory clearance from MHA and MOD.
DFO core PTR Anil Kumar Mishra confirmed that DGCA has issued an NoC to PTR for the use of 3 UAS.
Sources said lalit Gupta Joint Director General civil aviation has issued the NoC to CCF cum Field Director here with twelve conditions stating that in the event of violation or non adherence to any of the 12 conditions the NoC so granted will be withdrawn.
Among the12 conditions are that these three UAS will cover only latehar and Garhwa districts as in these two districts PTR has its territory. This tiger reserve is called Palamu tiger reserve but very few know that except for directorate office and buffer DFO office here of PTR the whole of PTR falls or exists in latehar and Garhwa districts.
The DGCA has stated in its condition that under no circumstances the UAS will go beyond latehar and Garhwa.
Further the height from which the uAS will do surveillance/recording etc will be just 400 feet up and not more with respect to privacy and protection of public property . THE PTR will be the prime user of the records/data/ images as collected by the UAS.
The DGCA further asked CCF cum FD PTR to meet medico legal expenses in the event of any person getting hurt by this UAS.
The UAS is to track down straying of elephants in human population besides poaching timber smuggling and to contain forest ires in the PTR which has a deciduous forest where leaf fall is enormous making this PTR highly prone and vulnerable to surface fire.
Sources said aerial surveillance is done by two systems one UVS ( unmanned vehicle system) and UAS ( unmanned aircraft system) and PTR is now armed with NoC for using unmanned aircraft system , not UVS.
Since the range of PTR is pretty far away from Chiyanki air strip use of three UAS will not be any problem as DGCA restricts its use if airport or airstrip is just 5 Kms away.