In order to manage crowds at multiple parks and nature trails, the National Parks Board (NParks) is deploying drones to help monitor crowd levels.

On Good Friday (Apr. 2) places such as the reopened stretch of the Rail Corridor near King Albert Park MRT saw throngs of hikers and members of the public.

500 people on the ground, drones deployed

On Apr. 3, Sim Ann, Member of Parliament for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC provided an update on the situation via a Facebook Live video.

The video featured Ben Cheung, Chairman of the Mayfair Park Neighbourhood Committee and Lim Liang Jim, Group Director of the National Biodiversity Centre under the National Parks Board (NParks).

Lim shared that NParks had deployed over 500 personnel to all parks, nature reserves and green spaces in Singapore, to manage the crowds.

They would patrol the area and advise visitors to observe safe management measures.

Lim added that should the crowds at a specific area become too dense, NParks will consider closing off that section of the green space.

Drone monitoring

NParks is also making use of drones as well.

Sim Ann shared in the comments section a video of NParks personnel deploying a drone.

The use of drones helps to obtain visitor number updates quickly, which complement ground observations by NParks officers.

The use of drones also gives them a better sense of the density of visitors in a specific area.

This is not entirely new; the agency has been using such technology since April 2020.

Several areas still crowded

A few areas are still experiencing high visitor numbers as of today (Apr. 4) at 4:07pm.

This includes places such as Bukit Timah Railway Station and Chestnut Nature Park.

Members of the public are encouraged to check out NParks' real-time map, which provides live updates on the visitor numbers at Singapore's green spaces.

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Top image via Sim Ann's Facebook post/Lianhe Zaobao