In a bid to prevent clogging of drains during monsoon, the Uttar Pradesh government is using drones to identify the sites where cleanliness or maintenance of drains is required.
Undertaking the statewide campaign on a mission mode, Principal Secretary (Urban Development) Amrit Abhijat has issued directives to the municipal corporations of Lucknow, Aligarh, Agra, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Ghaziabad, Kanpur Nagar and Meerut to ensure cleaning of all major drains, medium drains and small drains, and to utilise drone cameras for monitoring their condition on priority basis.
This step of the government is aimed at preventing water-logging, flooding of drains and canals as well as easing vehicular congestion that occurs frequently during the monsoon.
After the aerial surveys of the drains, the latitudinal and longitudinal positions of the drains concerned, their length, width and depth, along with their photographs and videos in a prescribed format, will be sent to the director, Urban Local Bodies Directorate, Lucknow.
The videos and photos of canals/drains before work, during work and after completion of work (silt clearance) by drones will be provided. The information will then be compiled and made available to the government within a week.
