Eagle eye over city

The Bengaluru city police will soon start using drones to track motorists and people walking on the streets in violation of the lockdown. With this, the police will be able to monitor a 1.5-km area sitting in one place.

Indian Institute of Science has developed the drones. The initiative was launched on Tuesday by Bengaluru city police chief Bhaskar Rao.

To start with, the Bangalore South police are using the drones to trace lockdown violators. Around 1,650 shops in the area have already been mapped. Later, the drones will cover all 108 police station areas in the city. At present the drones are being handled by the IISc experts.

The GPS-enabled drones weigh 3 kg and are fitted with a special camera and a siren. Footage of crowded places will be transmitted, based on which the police will make announcements warning people not to gather in large numbers.