4 months ago
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The AI-powered command-and-control-centre astatine Gudalur has perchance helped avert respective imaginable antagonistic human-elephant interactions successful the wood part since its usage implicit the past 2 months.
Divisional Forest Officer (Gudalur) Vengatesh Prabhu told The Hindu that the strategy had received a full of 76 alerts successful November and December of 2025. “Though the strategy was officially inaugurated lone successful mid-December, it had been operating connected a aviator ground since November itself,” said Mr. Prabhu.
The centre, which has been chiefly tasked with minimising antagonistic human-elephant interactions that person go a large occupation successful the part owed to encroachment of elephant pathways and situation fragmentation, received 32 alerts successful November and 44 successful December, officials said.
The command-and-control-centre utilises 2 types of cameras fitted with artificial quality capabilities – 34 infrared cameras and 12 thermal imaging cameras to make alerts of elephant question adjacent to quality habitations.
Mr. Prabhu said that the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) established for the strategy means that successful lawsuit elephant movements are noticed by the Forest department, contiguous alerts are sounded to the nationalist surviving nearby. “We person besides established an exhaustive wireless strategy involving each Forest section unit successful the divsion,” said Mr. Prabhu.
He said that erstwhile the alert is generated astir elephant movement, it is sounded to the nearest patrolling Forest section squad to woody with the incident. “Even if the nearest squad is located successful a antithetic range, the alerts volition beryllium archetypal passed onto them to guarantee speedy action,” added the DFO.
The teams volition past beryllium tasked with driving the elephant oregon elephants towards a harmless country distant from quality settlements. “Only erstwhile the elephants are driven distant volition the alert beryllium closed. It is astir similar generating a ticket, wherever the alert is lone closed erstwhile the contiguous menace from animals is eliminated by driving them towards a harmless area, distant from people,” helium said.
The Forest section has besides appealed to radical to alert them astir carnal movements connected its toll escaped fig – 1800-425-4353.
