NILGIRIS: In a bid to track elephant movement, 44 AI cameras, including 12 highly advanced cameras, have been set up, with the cameras connected to the command and control centre as part of mitigating human-elephant conflict in Gudalur Forest Division.
The initiative (centre) will be inaugurated soon by Forest Minister RS Rajakannappan and Nilgiris MP A Raja. Five staff have been appointed at the command and control centre, which will function round-the-clock, and information related to the elephant movement will be shared with the staff from the command centre based on alerts from the AI cameras. The staff will prevent the elephants from entering human habitations and agricultural lands.
“After obtaining the live feed, the six staff at the command centre will inform the ground staff through wireless phones,” said a senior official. “After detecting elephant movement, an automatic message will be shared to the residents to their mobile phones to alert them. This will greatly help avoid direct encounters with the elephants, especially during night. We have included the residents’ phone numbers in the nearby AI cameras. Out of 46 locations in six forest ranges in the division where elephant movement is high, we have set up AI cameras at Puliyamparai, Nilakottai O-Valley, and other spots,” the official added. The AI cameras can detect elephants up to one km distance.