The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will take traffic, flood and disaster management from the sky using new remote-controlled drones donated to the agency.
MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim said four new drones will be used in managing vehicle traffic and monitoring flood situations in the coming months.
“These drones are significant tools to help us in our decision-making since real-time footages of ongoing events can be provided,” Lim said.
At present, MMDA’s traffic monitoring is done on ground at the Metrobase using closed circuit television cameras (CCTVS) installed all over the metropolis.
“These drones will now give us a bigger picture for faster and orderly traffic management on congested areas,” the MMDA chief added.
“These drones will now give us a bigger picture for faster and orderly traffic management on congested areas.”
During the rainy season, Lim said these drones can help map out areas to a large extent and can even simulate flooding.
“Thus, we can immediately send teams with portable pumps to mitigate flooding,” he said.
Drones can stay in the air for 20-30 minutes, have altitude limit of 400 feet and can fly up to seven kilometers range.
“We can provide live feed even on Facebook, computers and gadgets while the drone is flying,” said Lim.
“We can provide live feed even on Facebook, computers and gadgets while the drone is flying.”
The MMDA Chairman said 12 personnel from different offices, who completed training, have been tasked to operate the four units.
“These drones will serve as our eye in the sky. We thank the people who donated these drones,” he said.
Aside from four drones, the donation comes with a tablet, remote control, and set of batteries.
Three drones cost at least P100,000 while one costs at least P400,000.