A friend posted this on Facebook:

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Police-ban-Drones-from-city-skies/articleshow/41661016.cms

Just as I was planning on a hex, Wonder what will happen next, will we fight this to save our hobby?

Dont fly in Mumbai, Never around residential area. CROWD = PROBLEM

All Because of Pizza delivery drama and Amazon declaring world wide The Launching of Drone delivery in India.     

I think I will file an RTI to find out what is the definition of drone according to them. Or probably get a copy of the notification !!

They them self dont know lol

i think we should form a society and ask them to form norms for flying

I think we should form a group n protest against this Pizza Wala. Kamine ne hamare Sapno ki bhi Wat lagadi

They really don't no what a Drone is. What bout flying Planes, is there a ban on them too?

i am from Hyderabad, i have dji s1000 , with 5d gimbal , interested people can approach , for commercial assignments
my number is 09246536289  

When I was a kid I wanted to get a RC airplane to India, and I was refused for the exact same reason, This is about 20 years back so the 'active' government bodies have really not drawn up any preventive guidelines in atleast the past 20 years. Too short time maybe to frame a set of guidelines? Not even something simple as a license/registration to fly rc planes

Now, I feel this lack of guidelines is probably on purpose so hobbyists can be harrowed given the demographics of hobbyists, the oomph factor attached to it, and the nature of expenses attached to this hobby.

I think it is better this topic isnt dragged any further and hence it will be soon forgotten like other issues our country faces. Policing 1.2+ billion is not a easy task for the forces, so if no untoward things happen in the name of this hobby, we should be able to fly without too much legal issues, provided if done at safer places..

A govt regulatory body for this hobby is a must , but then again this country has far more serious issue to take care of . Maybe we people should form a regulated club not passing rules but guidelines . Every day a new flyer comes in this hobby without knowing much about it , a drone flying in a ground is a different thing a drone flying out side your window with a camera is an other thing altogether . Even i would get spooked on seeing a mini drone outside my window with a camera ! Wouldn't you ?

Why does the Government just ban random things? I got harassed a number of times for just having funny looking(to their eyes) things on me. I once caused a furor at a Puja Pandal a few years back just cause I had some blinky leds on a circuit board. Some guy mistook the NiCd battery pack for dynamite sticks. Coupled with the wires sticking out, they thought it was a bomb of some kind. What the general public needs is education, not fear mongering by journalists expressing their views about tech they don't know.

Well if terrorism is the reason why not ban mobile phones? They have been used in umpteen cases of terrorism. What about cars? Are car bombs not used by terrorists worldwide. Cycle and scooters have also been used as carriers. Do we need to ban them also? Why consider drones as a threat. Should all citizens be barred from coming out of their homes. After all Rajeev Gandhi was killed by a human bomb.           

Well.... here folks.... the general public does not need any education on anything.... It is us hobbyists who need a good education.  We need to understand what can go wrong if it is flown in a place where many people are around.... what if you infringe someone else's rights while doing you hobby be it his privacy or safety. Many of us use FPV equip and go flying our models at random places without ever giving a though where we are flying... is it close to an airport... ir it close to a defence establishment or some sensitive DRDO or HAL or such an organisation....  For you it may be child's stuff... but for the Govt it is National security.... Espionage.... safety of its citizens...and many many many more such issues.  The more self restraints we show the better will it for the hobby or the government will need to restrain us.....

That's what happening in Mumbai....

Be safe and follow the guidelines of national security........

You are having lunch with your family in a nice peaceful environment of your home suddenly you see my drone equipped with a go pro outside your window ! What will you do wave at it ?

I agree with each and every word of yours

I agree with satyagupta.

Don't fly anywhere near the residential Area or crowded area.

Just fly on a safe place and Enjoy this Hobby.

 

Lol lastrites, that was real funny.

@Ashok sir, aptly put.. But authorities want more governing power to keep the general public under control, but sadly it happens at the expense of the hobbyists!

As @rajjaiswal92 has put, there should be a body which issues licenses and identity to the hobbyists and commercial operators through local clubs. and why are you worried about a drone with cam peeping on others? lol.. however that is definitely menacing if done by unknown perpetrator, and is crime for sure.

@shobhit17 sir, you are spoton right. But also the general public, atleast the educated and sane people will understand the message sent and will be aware of the newer things of the technology, so the less panic and more awareness about such ufo's sightings. The more the awareness the better it is to govern, than keeping it too closed loop and if something goes boom [god forbid], then every rc guy will be hunted for, regardless of their intention and at such instances only the influential will slip through and the weaklings will be tormented and possibly could be made a scapegoat for the whole scenario.

Like it happens with motorsports at FMSCI, and the local clubs who in turn gather the enthusiasts and pro's under its umbrella, so their interests are safe kept.

There are so many areas/fields that the general media has little or no idea about anything other than general day-to-day topics. Also either the known people are not willing to part the knowledge, or some other kind of communication gap, or the media isn't duly crediting their role. Maybe someone should volunteer to run an regular article about the hobbies in India and emphasize its importance and benefits. Also pointing out the demerits of the ill-use and how to identify and curb any such mishaps. I used to blog, in news style about motorsport for a couple of years, which is not regularly updated for a while as of now. But there were so many requests about information about the topic, and good viewership too across the globe. It also created a buzz among the youngsters who wanted to be a part of it and we guided them a few in the right direction. The possibilities were endless, but it was too much a work and no pay, so have stopped for a while. I can go on and on, but where does it lead to is the big question!

Dear Friend,

The educated and sane public sees us as renegades..... someone not fitting the conventional mold..... someone who is out to hurt their interests, safety, privacy and what not..... Its just a  matter of perception.... how one sees the glass filled with water.. half full or half empty.

Just imagine if Kasab had a friend flying a drone or a hexacopter for him and telling him where to move to be safe or get more people in his line of fire.... All dirty things are possible... and the sane and educated class sees all that first.  Because an insane guy is not going to announce his arrival or intentions.... The sane and educated have to out do him and prevent him from causing any harm to innocent people....

The moral of the story is.... we have to be sane and educated first.  We have to have self restraint and follow whatever necessary to ensure that we stay safe and secure.... and keep everyone else also in the same way.

Forming a club which has a proper flying field with registered aeromodellers will be of great help.... they could then take on the hobby in the right spirit and get good publicity.  The filed will need to be some distance from populated areas and away from any HOT spots as discussed earlier in my posts.....

Happy and safe flying.
 
Shobhit

I was having dinner with my family at Roshan di Kulfi, Karol Bagh on 26 October 1997 when suddenly an explosive went off. Everyone was blinded and deaf and the next moment I remember we were all at the hospital with my father battling to save his foot from being amputated.
http://m.rediff.com/news/oct/27blast.htm

What did the govt. do about it? Bullcrap! They're not really worried about your or my life. Perhaps they're scared of their own for they have little to no technology/skill/knowledge/common sense to defend themselves against a civilian drone.

We can't expect educating a population of 100+ crore about drones in a country where basic school education is a privilege. While yes, aeromodellers need to be educated, so do the authorities. I doubt if the gents who impose the ban do really understand what would take a quad to deliver a 2kg explosive payload in a 2 kms radius. More to wonder, if i were a trouble maker, would I really use an attention grabbing drone in lieu of cars, buses, trains, taxis, cycles, kamikaze?

Red tapism without infomation at its best.

It might not bother you , but it certainly will bother me if i see a drone flying above my home , office or other institutions that i own it would for sure make me worried . To each to his own my dear sir

Oh and Bollywood is to be blamed too. I remember watching a movie lately where the antagonist uses a RC heli for creating some nuisance, and then my friends asked me, "are those things really that dangerous?"

My grandma used to tell me that people were sh*t scared of shifting to LPG in their times, because LPG cylinders could explode... and we had trouble makers and anarchists back then too

Mother of all blunders! That is why I am kind of opinionated about educating the general public, after all we too are part of it. which movie was it btw?

Idea is simple we people ve to take care n not try to fly at public places. Multirotors n other things are flown in the country since many years, planes go a long way back maybe more than 40 years. but all those things came into picture all of a sudden, after the Pizza episode. how many of us ve ever called our rotor as drone? we simply cal it as Quadcopter or Hex or Octo or Heli. but the Pizza episode gave this hobby a new name Drone, as if we are storing bombs or other ammunition in our rotors.so the basic thing is we ve be certain that we ll never ever fly at public places.

On a lighter note:


What are your GPS cooridnates? We know now how to turn you into a bundle of nerves ... 

Why are people getting scared or annoyed with drones hovering above them, unless they are upto some thing. Government is worried because they are always upto something. Look at the politicians. Current technology doesn't allow users to operate far from their toys. Terrorism looks like an excuse.  Major suspect on Rc planes with bombs have been in news for past many years. Google map lets u fly Fpv without ever using a drone.

In future I'm sure unmanned aircraft will share airspace with manned crafts as it has wide application. I don't think drones should come under police jurisdiction firstly. But rather a government body should use police to enforce their laws regarding whatever.

Also to all the hobbyists calling their multicopters drone need to take an enema and wash out their sins.  And all the budding engineers that are promoting their scratchbuilt quads as drones need to get slap with their drone.

In my opinion, this is good and bad at the same time.

Good: Because, many people are misusing these by claiming their RC models as DRONES. We all are quite familiar with the fact that DRONES and our models have huge differences like electronics stuff/hobby grade stuff, chinese items, failures of various parts, etc. Moreover, being a college student I know how alluring and attractive a multicopter looks and usually many engineering graduates end up in making multicopters as their final year projects which just involves assembling different parts together. Not getting much into it. Moreover, many people are involved in aerial photography in marriages/parties making huge money from it. Where they fly at very low altitude above people to capture good shots. What if the prop fails, a connector gets loosen or anything else. 
The over all conclusion is that for safety of people and nation this is necessary. As already discussed, flying zones could be setup which are away from population. We need to take initiatives on individual level not to do anything which could hurt or threaten someone.

Bad: Since, we all know the state of law makers in our country. Such type of things could bring more restrictions and problems further in other areas as well. Nobody apart from us and few more people(RC community) cares for our hobby. it would take no time to put more restrictions on a single petty issue. Already, we face so many custom issues while ordering products and many other problems as well.

This is our responsibility to adhere by the rules/regulations and ensure public safety at all cost.

The need is to educate all the aeromodellers, i.e. us all, as to what is correct and what not.... and how to be safe and on the right side of the Law.