Mr. Naidu said that drone technology should be used in tourism, the agricultural sector, mines, forests, irrigation projects, maintenance of law and order, and better municipal administration. (Representational image)

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said that drone technology would be used for real time governance and an academy should be developed to impart training for the maintenance and operation of drones.

Addressing a review meeting of officials of Andhra Pradesh Fiber Net at his residence on Sunday, the Chief Minister said that a four-member committee would be appointed to develop and formulate the necessary guidelines to improve drone technology and surveillance cameras.

The committee would set up a single window system to develop this. He said that the committee would have to prepare a road map after identifying experts on drones worldwide and the services they were extending for their better administration.

Mr. Naidu said that drone technology should be used in tourism, the agricultural sector, mines, forests, irrigation projects, maintenance of law and order, and better municipal administration.

Citing the role of drones in successfully monitoring crowd control, traffic management and crime during the recently concluded Krishna Pushkaram, the chief minister also said that drone technology should be introduced in housing societies and maintenance of canals for better results. He directed the officials to prepare an action plan for use of drones and surveillance cameras throughout the state.

The CM said a state-level command control centre would be set up in the state capital and similar major command control centres in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Anantapur, besides district headquarters, to help in real time governance.

These centres would help monitor the situation in all districts and take decisions immediately, thereby enabling the extension of better and quick services to the people.

Earlier, AP Fiber Grid MD K. Sambasiva Rao, who gave a PowerPoint presentation on the application of drones in real time governance, said that they were being used in Japan for the last 25 years for spraying on crops. They were being used extensively in the agriculture sector in the USA, Australia and Switzerland, and could also help curb illegal mining activities, monitoring of traffic on highways and improving services in several other sectors.

Minister for municipal administration Dr P. Narayana, director general of police N. Sambasiva Rao, CMO secretaries Satish Chandra, Pradyumna and Saiprasad, command control centre in-charge B. Rajasekhar, e-Governance Council members V. Hariprasad, and commissioner of information and public relations S. Venkateswar were also present.