Coronavirus outbreak: Careful, drones are now watching you!

Cops demonstrated the drones to Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday. Pics courtesy/Mumbai Police

The Mumbai police are now going to survey the city in lockdown from the skies with brand new drones. Attached with high-quality cameras and loudspeakers, the drones will blare out announcements and warnings wherever crowds are spotted.

The city police had five drones bought earlier to keep an eye on events involving huge crowds. While the old drones were being used to keep an eye on the city during the lockdown, the new ones make announcements possible.

"The drones are helpful in surveying congested places, especially slums which are seeing many complaints of crowding. We are appealing to people through the drones to co-operate with us," said Vinoy Choubey, joint commissioner of police (law and order).

"The drone footage is monitored in the control room.

The video shows only the colour of the clothes worn by people outside their homes. So, for example, if a man in a red shirt is roaming outside and is spotted in the
drone, we say through the loudspeaker, 'Red shirt wale ghar ke andar jao, lockdown me baahar na ghume'. Those who don't comply will face legal action," said a senior police officer.

Attached with lights, the drones can be used at night too The drones are attached with a focus light for operation at night and beacon lights which will make spotting
the drone possible from a distance. "We can also record the video footage, so videos of crowds can be submitted as evidence later," an officer said.

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