Ahead of Deepam, Daksha gets into action

As the 10-day Karthigai Mahadeepam festival commenced on Sunday, Inspector General of Police (IG), North Zone, P Kannappan, expressed satisfaction over the performance of Daksha, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that will be used to augment the security arrangements during the fest.

After associate professor of Aero Space Department of Madras Institute of Technology Senthil Kumar and five of his team members demonstrated the manoeuvrability and wide range of applications of Daksha to a team of policemen on Sunday, the IG said the UVA would be a permanent feature of the security arrangements for the festival, hereafter.

He said the UAV would be utilised for crowd and traffic management. The onboard camera would transmit live video footage to a control room inside the temple. It would help the police department have a bird’s eye view of the town and help the police act swiftly in case of an emergency.

Daksha would be used to monitor devotees at the temple from 2 pm to 5 pm. “MIT’s Daksha team will be assisted by a team of police personnel.

They will coordinate and pass on the information to other police officers on the field,” the IG said.He said around 15,000 police personnel, including commandos, special task force and crime team would be deployed during the fest.

The Daksha team would would be used as per the needs and demands of the police department. 

Deputy Inspector of General of Police of Vellore Range M T Ganeshmoorthy and Superintendent of Police of Vellore and in-charge of Tirvannnamalai I Eswaran accompanied the IG during his visit to the temple town.