The Anakapalle Town Police have begun using drones to keep an eye on the movement of people living in containment zones and identify those who are violating COVID-19 protocols.
After Unlock 1.0, Anakapalle (Town) has started to emerge as a COVID-19 hotspot in the district, registering 73 positive cases in the last four weeks. There are 21 cluster containment zones in the town. However, there seems to be no sense of caution among locals who are thronging public places in large numbers, and that too without wearing masks, say police. This has prompted them to use aerial surveillance in cluster containment zones in order to identify violators.
“COVID-19 cases have been increasing since the last one month. Moreover, two of our police constables who were on COVID-19 duty have tested positive. There are reports of violations in several containment zones. To keep a check on such violations, we have started to use drones. The response is encouraging,” said Inspector of Anakapalle (Town) police station L. Bhaskar Rao.
Violators booked
Police are identifying violators with the help of the drone camera footage and are booking them for going out of the containment zones on flimsy grounds and ignoring social distancing norms. On July 1, the Anakapalle police booked COVID-19 violation cases against 13 persons from containment zones caught manually and also using drone cameras.
Police say that they have been deploying auto-rickshaws to make announcements and arranging banners appealing to the public to take precautions and control the spread of coronavirus.
“The main intention behind all our initiatives is to create awareness regarding the gravity of COVID-19 and make sure that everyone follows norms,” Mr. Bhaskar Rao said.
Apart from Anakapalle, the district police have started using drones to monitor the movement of people in containment zones at Narsipatnam region as well.
