Tourist flies drone over MTR, fined

Acting on a tip-off about a drone flying over the Singara range, the department staff rushed to the spot and took into custody the man identified as Anish Sadhanandan (39).

He was taken to the department office, where inquiries revealed that the tourist had video recorded the forest cover using the drone, without any ulterior motives.

“Anish, who was visiting The Nilgiris to celebrate New Year, stayed in a friend’s house at Vazhaithottam for the past two days. He claimed that he was unaware of the ban on recording videos of the protected forest. He said he committed the deed unintentionally,” said a department official, adding that it is illegal to operate drones and document a tiger reserve.

The Forest Department staff let Anish off with a warning. They, however, levied a fine of Rs 20,000 on him. In a similar incident, a few months ago, the department drew flak for imposing a fine of Re 1 on a group of tourists found operating a drone over the Masinagudi range in MTR.