What’s the news: Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua announced a ‘no fly zone’ for drones along border districts of the state located up to 25 km from the India-Pakistan border, said the New Indian Express (NIE). As per Janjua’s directions, such unauthorised flying objects will be shot down. As per the article, state agencies reported over 50 drones flying from the Pakistani side of the border since January. These drones are meant to deliver narcotics, weapons, explosives and ammunition, say officials. Similarly, Border Security Force (BSF) reported 133 intruding drones between 2020 and 2021. In his last visit to this area, Governor Banwarilal Purohit told officials to implement the drone policy issued by the Centre in 2021, said NIE. Why it matters: Last year, the central government issued the draft Drone Rules, 2021 to mandate safety features like segregating the air space into colour-coded zones while also tracking beacons and restricting imports. It called for a map that distinguishes airspace for drone operations as: red zone (flying not permitted), yellow zone (controlled airspace) and green zones (fly zones). Further, state governments, union territories or law enforcement agencies were permitted to declare a temporary red zone over a specified area for a period not exceeding 48 hours at a time. In August 2020, the Civil Aviation Ministry had said that nearly 70 percent of India’s airspace was greenlit for compliant drones to fly in. This included both green zones and yellow zones. The remaining 30 percent airspace was a red…
