LAHORE: Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Wednesday gave approval to purchase of 1,200 drone cameras, of which 1000 will be given to police and 200 to various other departments, for public safety, monitoring and relief activities during natural calamities.

The chief minister says the policing system would be modernised through the use of drone technology across the province and 1,000 drone cameras will be given to Punjab Police.

He says the drones cameras will help police in fighting street crimes and other criminal activities and bring the culprits in the grip of law, besides ensuring effective monitoring of rallies and processions during Muharram-ul-Haram and other religious occasion.

He says these gadgets will also be used for monitoring of parks and other recreational places to avoid re-occurrence of incidents like disgrace of a woman in a park in 2021. Monitoring with drone cameras will enable the departments concerned to give a timely response to such incidents, he added.

The chief minister says that with the help of night vision drone cameras the law and order situation can be improved during night time.

He also stressed the need for using the drone technology to have advance information about floods and the flow of water in the rivers through round-the-clock monitoring and to issue timely alerts to minimise losses. The relief activities, especially provision of medicines and edibles to the affectees can also be expedited through the drone technology, he adds.

He stated that during fire incidents, earthquakes or any other calamity, the relief activities can be launched timely in the affected areas with the help of drones.

Highlighting the benefits of using the technology in the agriculture sector, Mr Elahis says it can be used for spraying pesticides on crops, especially to combat locusts attacks and increase production. It will also help in making correct estimates of the production of fields, he says.

Drone technology can also be employed for surveillance of mining activities in the Salt Range, besides counting of trees.

He also suggested the use of drones for rescue activities to save precious lives during any natural calamity.

He disclosed that a separate wing will be established in Punjab for implementation of this programme and the staff concerned will be trained by a Chinese company.

CM sought recommendations from police and other departments regarding use of drone cameras, besides reports keeping in view their needs.

MEETING: The chief minister met with a delegation of a Chinese company Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI), having expertise in drone technology. The delegation comprised Mr Lai Man Yuk, Mr Colt Chen, Mr Lumen XU, Mr Honjingye Zhang, Mr Man Yuk Lai, Mr Zhenwen Lian and Mr Alistair Kung.

The Chinese delegation gave a detailed briefing to him with regard to improving different services through the use of drone technology.

Former federal minister Moonis Elahi, Principal Secretary to CM Muhammad Khan Bhatti, former Principal Secretary to CM GM Sikandar, Additional Chief Secretary Home retired Capt Asad Ullah Khan, Caretaker IGP Kanwar Shahrukh, secretaries of agriculture and irrigation, Rescue-1122 DG Dr Rizwan Naseer, PDMA DG were also present in the meeting.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2022