KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 12
The Ministry of Home Affairs has warned of legal action against anyone who is involved in flying remotely-piloted aircraft (drone) without obtaining permission of the authorities concerned.
Issuing a press statement today, the MoHA said it was notified about various people and organisations that were flying drones in an unauthorised manner. "We would like to inform such persons and organisations to fly drones weighing up to two kilograms and above two kilograms by obtaining permission of the district administration office concerned and the MoHA, respectively.
Anyone who is found violating this order will be liable to legal action under the prevailing law," the statement read.
The MoHA has also appealed to all to abide by the provisions stipulated in the Drone (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) Flight Procedure, 2019 while flying drone. The procedure regulates the increased use of drones in various sectors.
Drone and flying cameras are used in agriculture, education, health, forest, environment, geography, arts and culture, entertainment, development and disaster management, security and mass media for research and study, information collection, survey, mapping, movie filming, and preparation of other audio-visual materials.
The procedure also aims to address the threats to security from haphazard use of unmanned aerial vehicle.
The drones have been classified into four categories on the basis of their structure and maximum take-off weight. Permission is not required for any academic research centre or university to fly drones weighing up to two kilograms at 200 feet within its premises. However, it should provide information to the nearest police office.
The air-route and the area of five kilometres around the airport and horizontal distance up to five kilometres on the international border have been designated as prohibited zones for drone flight. Similarly, flying drone is prohibited in Maitighar Mandala, Swoyambhunath, Pashupatinath, Bouddhanath, Budhanilkantha, Durbar Square areas (Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan), religious and archaeological areas, Singha Durbar area, within their aerial radius distance and residence of the president, vice-president and prime minister, around 1,000 metres from the office of the Nepali Army and around 500 metres from other security agencies.
The procedure also prohibits the use of drones that cause disturbance to the peace, security and privacy of persons. Security agencies have been authorised to confiscate drones flown in prohibited areas and take action against their operators.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 13, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
