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Pakistan will begin using drones to monitor highways

The Pakistan National Highways and Motorways Police (NHMP) will soon begin using drones to monitor highways and motorways to control traffic flow. The drones are also meant to help police quickly respond to crimes and chase down criminals.

The drones will be in the air in the coming weeks after a successful virtual conference was held at the NHMP headquarters on Friday. The drones will be positioned at a few key points along the highways and motorways, with more expected to join.

The drones are a part of the Pakistan National Highways and Motorways Police’s (NHMP) five-year plan to modernize its operations to keep up with future requirements.

A primary use mentioned is that the drones will allow traffic flow to be monitored and remotely controlled around the clock. This makes sense as installing stationary cameras to cover the highways and motorways would cost a lot more than using drones to monitor multiple road sections.

The drones are also expected to catch criminals and track their movements along the roads. This will definitely allow the police force to improve response times and locate a criminal driving down the road.

As far as we can see, there aren’t any rules governing how the police can use the drones once in the air. It will be interesting to see if they begin using it to hand out speeding fines or identify people, which could cause a few issues when it comes to privacy.

Indian surveillance

In neighboring India, police have already begun to use drones to monitors its roads. A few weeks ago, it was using 11 drones to monitor farmers rallying in Gurugram. The drones allowed the police to monitor the rally from above and ensure nothing got out of hand. The police also used the drones to proactively block off roads, preventing farmers from getting into the town.

Indian farmers have been protesting new laws introduced by the government for the last few months. The change will see the government stepping away and allowing private investors to do what they want with the farmers essentially.

Photo: Goh Rhy Yan

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Avatar for Joshua Spires Joshua Spires

Josh started in the drone community in 2012 with a drone news Twitter account. Over the years Josh has gained mass exposure from his aerial photography work and spends his days writing drone content for DroneDJ as well as pursuing his business.