Mumbai Police will get 50 segways to patrol the city
Mumbai police will be getting 50 segways to patrol the city to ensure security preparedness and safety of officials amid the coronavirus pandemic that has affected the financial capital of the country gravely.
Maharashtra's Home Minister Anil Deshmukh inaugurated the deployment of the segways today at Marine Drive and said the process will begin with 15 and then be extended further.
"While the deployment will begin with 10 segways at Worli, five at Nariman Point we eventually plan to deploy these latest self-balancing electric scooters at Bandra, Juhu and Versova too," Mr Deshmukh said.
He said the state government wants modernisation of the Maharashtra police force and wants them to be equipped with technology at par with global policing standards.
The policemen operating the self-balancing scooters will have public address system attached to their masks to speak to people.
Drones are also providing extra cover to the police as the state remains crippled by the deadly virus - Maharashtra has the highest number of COVID-19 cases across the country.
The city police has been using drones to urge people in crowded areas to "stay indoors" and maintain social distancing. The drones have a capacity of carrying a weight of 30 kg. They are mounted with a loudspeaker and a camera.
Mumbai has over 45,000 virus cases - Maharashtra has over 94,000 cases with 3,438 deaths.