Social media, drones come in handy for Jharkhand police in enforcing lockdown

Amidst the rise in the coronavirus cases, Jharkhand police is using social media to reach out to citizens to resolve their grievances and communicate with them to handle the deadly outbreak that has taken the world into its grip.

Ranchi zone of the Jharkhand police has unveiled WhatsApp helpline numbers where people share their grievances, feedback or any other distressing situation to get the police’s support.

“Social media is being used extensively to interact with people and sort out their grievances in these tough times,” says Inspector General of Police (Ranchi zone), Jharkhand Police, Naveen Kumar Singh.

Ranchi police is extensively using technology for thorough surveillance and enforcement of the lockdown in containment zones and buffer zones. A substantial number of drones are being used to keep a hawk’s eye on the people’s movement and ensure no one breaks the law.

It may be noted that unmanned aerial vehicles or drones give a bird’s eye view to the police to keep an eye on who is defying the lockdown in the narrow alleys where big police vans cannot venture into. Sources said, drones often help to issue warnings to people who despite being warned continue to roam around the city without any reason.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s website, the number of coronavirus affected people has climbed to 46 and two people have lost their lives in Jharkhand as on April 21.

Dedicated WhatsApp numbers of two different service providers have been placed in control rooms for people to be able to send their grievances, suggestions and feedback to the police easily.

Jharkhand police is also using video conferencing facility to issue directives to its officers and assess the situation across the state.

To ensure people with genuine reasons of emergency get out of their homes, the police has introduced an e-pass facility. It has enabled people to apply for the e-pass and get it online to venture outside their homes only for emergency situations.

A dense network of CCTVs is also pressed into service. The higher-ups in the police department have asked the officers to extensively use CCTV cameras and automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) system to detect lockdown violators.

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