The Mumbai Police banned all flights by drones and light flying objects, as reported by the Times of India (ToI) dated March 1st, 2017. The ToI piece also dwelled on the impact of this order on the drone-based educational activities conducted by three engineering colleges in Mumbai including IIT Bombay. The concerned police officer has been reported to be very emphatic about the need for such a strict action in view of the security threat posed by the drones. As I remember, there were reports of suspicious drone activity near the airports in the country. There have been reports of terrorist sleeper cells, and terrorists have demonstrated their tech-savvy-ness earlier. So, the perception of the security threat is legitimate and valid.
Author
Subodh Wagle
Subodh Wagle
Subodh Wagle (Mech' 82, H5) is an alumnus of IITB. He has a PhD in Energy and Environmental Policy. Subodh has been a trustee of PRAYAS, a non-profit working in Policy area and worked with PRAYAS after his doctoral studies. Later, he taught at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and University of Delaware, USA. He is now Professor at IITB where he teaches courses in public policy and research methods. His main research areas have been regulatory and policy issues in the electricity, energy, water, environment sectors.