3 months ago
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As galore arsenic 100 snake rescuers from crossed Tamil Nadu person been selected for onboarding onto the Naagam app, a caller mobile level designed to streamline snake rescue operations and fortify technological information collection.
Unveiled successful July 2025 by elder officials of the Forest Department, the app was meant to facilitate technology-driven wildlife rescue efforts successful the State.
The Forest Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT) to negociate the exertion and behaviour structured grooming programmes for rescuers.
At present, members of the nationalist interaction the Forest Department oregon the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service for wildlife emergencies.
The caller app is expected to streamline rescue requests and guarantee quicker effect times, successful summation to generating information to survey rescue patterns and snake distribution.
Workshops conducted
So far, the MCBT has conducted workshops successful Chennai, Madurai, Erode, and Coimbatore, and selected 100 rescuers with expertise successful harmless snake handling. Most of those chosen are volunteers, portion others are Forest Department staff.
Ch. Gnaneswar of MCBT, who is starring the grooming sessions, said the app would go afloat effectual erstwhile an further 50 to 100 rescuers — peculiarly from Tier-I and Tier-II cities — are onboarded.
Currently, entree to the app is constricted to trained rescuers, with caller features being added up of the nationalist launch.
The exertion is modelled aft SARPA, Kerala’s snake rescue platform. However, Mr. Gnaneswar said Tamil Nadu was apt to person a importantly higher measurement of calls, perchance owed to urbanisation and operation activities and construction creating much hiding spaces for snakes.
Greater nationalist consciousness successful Kerala astir venomous and non-venomous taxon could besides lend to differences successful rescue telephone volumes.
A elder Forest Department authoritative said selected rescuers indispensable acquisition a ceremonial exertion process done their respective District Forest Officers. They would beryllium officially onboarded aft thorough vetting.
The app is apt to beryllium afloat operational successful 4 months, earlier the onset of the monsoon season, erstwhile determination is an summation successful snake rescue calls.
