Team Dhaksha of the Centre for Aerospace Research, Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Anna University, has deployed an improved version of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for aerial scanning of Pasumpon and surrounding areas even as police threw a massive security cordon for the peaceful conduct of Thevar jayanthi on Friday.
The Anna University team deployed rotary wing type UAV with high resolution zooming camera on Thursday at Kottaimedu, near Pasumpon, as about 6,000 police personnel were positioned throughout the district to ensure that the 108th death anniversary and 53rd guru puja of freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar passed off peacefully.
“After encountering many technical challenges, we have developed the improved version of UAV and deployed it for the first time here,” K. Senthil Kumar, Head of Dhaksha and Director of the Centre, told The Hindu on Thursday. Thanks to the zooming facilities, the UAV could beam accurate and close up shots, he said.
At every launch, the UAV could be positioned at an altitude of about 150 metres and operated for about 40 minutes, he said adding the zooming camera would cover a five-kilometre range from the launch point. “We have made four sorties on Thursday and the technical team of the police was highly satisfied with the coverage,” he said.
The UAV was operated on stabilised Gimbal technology platform and the camera had the capability to zoom ten times of optics and four times of digital, he said. The team was fully equipped to deploy the UAV at all problem-prone areas, identified by the police in and around Pasumpon, he said.
Meanwhile, 10 Superintendents of Police, 15 Additional SPs and 40 Deputy SPs took control of their respective sectors in the district.
The district has been divided into 10 sectors and each one is under the control of an SP-level officer. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) J. K. Tripathy and senior officials reviewed the security arrangements with Ramanathapuram SP N. M. Mylvahanan and SPs deployed in different sectors.
Tirunelveli
Police have made elaborate security arrangements across the district in view of Muthuramalinga Thevar jayanthi.
As good number of followers are likely to visit Pasumpon to pay homage to Muthuramalinga Thevar on Friday, police have erected check-posts at 13 places including eight in the city limits and five by the rural police to check vehicles going to Pasumpon.
Moreover, armed police personnel have been deployed near the statues of all leaders and sensitive villages in the district have been brought under police surveillance.
