Kerala police declare ‘Nava Kerala Sadas’ venues, routes in Thiruvananthapuram as ‘temporary red zones’

The usage of drones and drone cameras, except for official purposes, has been completely banned in the red zone areas.

Published Dec 20, 2023 | 2:12 PMUpdated Dec 20, 2023 | 2:12 PM

Pinarayi Vijayan at the Nava Kerala Sadas

With the Kerala government’s ambitious Nava Kerala Sadas outreach programme entering the capital district, the state police, on Wednesday, 20 December, declared its various venues, surrounding areas and the respective routes here as “temporary red zones”.

The usage of drones and drone cameras, except for official purposes, has been completely banned in the red zone areas.

An order in this regard was issued by district police chief Kiran Narayanan.

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Bans deployment of drones

“From today onwards, the Nava Kerala Sadas is being held in places within Varkala, Attingal, Mangalapuram, Venjaramoodu, Nedumangadu, Aryanad, Kattakkada, Neyyattinkara, and Parassala police station limits, which fall under rural Thiruvananthapuram,” the order said.

During a detailed inspection, it was found that the deployment of drones and drone cameras would cause a hindrance to the smooth conducting of the event, the Deputy Commissioner Of Police noted in the order.

Hence, the usage of the device has been banned in these areas under Section 24(2) of the Drone Rules 2021.

The particular areas would remain as temporary red zones from 6.00 am to 8 pm for three days from today, the order added.

The “red zone” order issued by the district police chief assumed significance in the wake of Opposition parties and outfits continuing their intense criticism against the reported unprecedented security arrangements being made as part of the outreach programme.

The Nava Kerala Sadas, which began last month, will be concluded in Thiruvananthapuram on 23 December.

(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)

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