After Jammu air base attack, District Magistrate bans use, sale of drones in J-K's Kupwara

Days after explosives-laden drones attacked the Jammu airbase, the Kupwara district administration imposed restrictions in the storage, sale, possession, use and transport of drones, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). "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 Kupwara," District Magistrate Imam Din said in the order.

Jammu Airbase Attack: District Magistrate issues a new order

As per the new order issued by Imam Din, a person, who already has drone cameras or similar unmanned aerial vehicles in his possession, should report the same to the local police station. 

"The decentralised airspace access has to be regulated in view of recent episodes of misuse of drones posing threat to security infrastructure as reported by the media and other reliable sources. Director-General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) has provided draft guidelines / standard operating protocols to regulate the use of drones in terms of weight classification, generation of unique identification numbers, height/ altitude restrictions, speed restriction, enforcement/panel action, etc," the administration noted.

The order also noted that with a view to secure the aerial space near the viral installations and highly populated areas, it is important to discontinue the use of drones in all social and cultural gatherings. "Doing this will eliminate any risk of injury to the life and damage to property," it added. 

Earlier, Rajouri, Srinagar, Baramulla and Kathua district administrations had also issued similar orders to ban the storage, sale, or possession and use and transport of flying objects after the Jammu airbase attack.

Twin explosions at Jammu Air Base

On June 27, two low-intensity blasts occurred at Jammu airbase in which two Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel suffered minor injuries. The explosions were reported in the technical area.

After the attack, an electro-optic drone system was deployed by the Indian Army in Poonch and Rajouri sectors near the LOC. This anti-drone system can destroy the UAV at a distance of 1.5 kilometres by hindering its communication system.

(Image: PTI, Unsplash)