After trial, bureaucrats want drones that are rain-resistant

The state highway police has asked private contractors involved in the aerial surveillance of Mumbai-Pune Expressway’s traffic, which was done on a trial basis last week, to provide upgraded, rain-resistant cameras. This is because the drone-enabled monitoring of the E-way yielded extremely blurred images due to rainfall that was experienced during the exercise.

The drones were used in brief spells to capture images of motorists flouting traffic regulations on the E-way during the weekend rush. “The captured images were too blurry due to the rains,” said a source in the highway police.

Highway police officials said that when the camera comes in contact with rain, the lens are not able to catch details like the license plate of the vehicle and its exact make. “The drones need to work during the monsoon season as well but during the experiment we realised the images would be blurred and the lenses of the camera would fog up due to precipitation and humidity,” said superintendent of highway police, Pune, Amol Tambe.

However the state highway police, which conducted the pilot, along with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, did catch and fine 41 motorists who broke traffic regulations during the exercise. The violators were detected when the rains had receded and the image was clear.

The company that provided the drones during the pilot has been asked to upgrade the cameras and make them water-resistant. “We have basically asked them to bring in cameras if possible that will be able to bear different kinds of weather conditions, especially the rain that we saw on the Expressway,” Mr Tambe said.

An official said the experiment has generated a lot of public curiosity but that now its feasibility is being questioned.

“Drones to do this kind of work cannot be average ones, it has to be hi-tech and has to make sure that there is ample clarity in the images,” said the official on the condition of anonymity.