J&K administration bans use of drones in Srinagar

District Magistrate Mohammad Aijaz said the storage, sale, possession, use and transport of drones and similar kind of unmanned aerial vehicles in the territorial jurisdiction of the district has been banned.

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has banned the use of drones in the summer capital, Srinagar days after a suspected drone attack on the airforce station in Jammu.

The District Magistrate on Sunday issued an order asking the police to implement the ban and keep a check on drone-related activities.

District Magistrate Mohammad Aijaz said that the storage, sale, possession, use and transport of drones and similar kind of unmanned aerial vehicles in the territorial jurisdiction of the district has been banned.

He said that to secure the aerial space near vital installations and highly populated areas, it is imperative to discontinue the use of drones in all social and cultural gatherings to eliminate any risk of injury to life and damage to property.

"Keeping in view the security situation apart from concerns of breach of privacy, nuisance and trespass, it is extremely dangerous to let unmanned aerial vehicles wander around in the skies within the territorial jurisdiction of District Srinagar," the order said.

The order further stated that persons already having the drone cameras / similar kinds of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in their possession shall deposit the same in the local police station under proper receipt.

"Moreover, the Govt. Departments using drones for mapping, surveys and surveillance in agricultural, environment conservation and disaster mitigation sectors shall inform the local police station before undertaking any such activity in public interest," it said.

The order reads that any violation shall attract punitive action as warranted under relevant laws.

Earlier the administration banned the use of drones in the border district of Rajouri in the Jammu region.

Last Sunday, police said it suspected militant outfit LeT was involved in the attack in which drones dropped explosives on Jammu Airforce station in which a building suffered minor damage. The NIA has taken over the probe and security and surveillance have been beefed up around the vital security and government installations in the UT, reports said.