The government has allowed Kochi Metro Rail Ltd to use drones for the Integrated Urban Regeneration & Water Transport System (IURWTS) project, subject to certain conditions. The conditional approval is valid till December 31 this year or until full operationalisation of Digital Sky Platform (Phase-1), whichever is earlier, according to a release issued on Wednesday.
“The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted a conditional exemption for Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) usage to Kochi Metro Rail Limited, Kerala for IURWTS,” the release said. Prior to operating an RPAS, necessary clearances must be obtained by KMRL from the local administration, home ministry, defence ministry, Air Force and Airport Authority of India (AAI) as applicable. The government has allowed Kochi Metro Rail Ltd to use drones for the Integrated Urban Regeneration & Water Transport System (IURWTS) project, subject to certain conditions. Photographs, as well as video graphs taken through the RPAS, should only be used by KMRL. Also, Kochi Metro would be responsible for the safety and security of RPAS as well as data collected through it.
