BARIPADA: The Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) has intensified its monsoon protection measures by establishing 214 anti-poaching camps and deploying over 1,000 trained security personnel.
Regional chief conservator of forests (RCCF) and field director of STR Prakash Chand Gogineni said the arrangements were made ahead of the monsoon to ensure continuous surveillance across the 2,750-sq-km tiger reserve.
The RCCF said the Forest department undertakes the exercise every year as part of its routine protection measures. The camps include 12 special tiger protection force (STPF) camps which have been set up in sensitive and vulnerable areas inside the reserve to strengthen protection during the rainy season.
Personnel stationed at the STPF and 25 special camps are carrying out round-the-clock patrols. Special emphasis has been laid on night patrolling in vulnerable locations to prevent entry of poachers.
To support frontline staff, the Forest department has been organising health camps inside the reserve. Doctors are conducting tests and providing treatment for fungal infections, cold and fever, and vector-borne diseases such as malaria.
Gogineni said patrolling teams have been provided with anti-leech shoes, raincoats, torches, safe drinking water, emergency medicines and adequate four-wheel-drive vehicles for field operations.
As part of the strengthened monitoring strategy, patrolling teams have been instructed to cover or physically verify at least 100 designated locations every day.
The RCCF said monsoon patrolling in previous years was often hampered by damaged forest roads, inadequate vehicles and poor connectivity, creating opportunities for poachers to enter STR during the rains.
However, major improvements in manpower, road connectivity to remote and inaccessible areas, vehicle availability, communication facilities and the use of artificial intelligence-based camera monitoring have considerably strengthened protection efforts, he added.