Working with drones: Still not a career for most?

While studying at an engineering college in Tumkur, Karnataka, in 2009, Bhavesh Sangani bought a small toy: a remote-controlled helicopter. “We’ve conducted 17 events across the country in one and a half years, have grown to a community of 800 pro pilots who are training others on how to build and fly their own quads or drones, have a dedicated team of designers who create challenging tracks for their pro pilots, and have even held a night race. And this is just racing drones that I’m talking about.” Kamdar has also launched a marketplace for drone spare parts, runs workshops on drone-making and piloting, and is the go-between for projects and corporate events for the pro pilots in his community. What if the weather that day doesn’t permit me to fly?” asks Raisin George, a documentary maker and digital communications professional at a Bengaluru-based start-up who has been practising drone flying since March 2016. Now George regularly gets inquiries from prospective clients for aerial photography and videography, but the moment he tells them about the permissions required from DGCA, they say, “Okay, some other day.” Nihar Vartak, co-founder and director of Asteria Aerospace, a Bengaluru-based start-up that sells surveillance drones to the police and paramilitary forces, believes the government is still thinking about how to restrict use of drones, rather than how to allow people to use them safely.