KOCHI: As devotees prepare for the Sabarimala pilgrimage season, which resumes on November 17, the forest department has launched real-time monitoring on the 12km-long Sathram-Pulmedu-Sannidhanam route, to help track the movement of wild animals and ensure safety of pilgrims on trek routes.
The control room facility at Peerumade will alert to the presence of wild animals, enabling rapid response teams (RRTs) to rush to the spot and ensure the safe passage of pilgrims. A similar facility was introduced on the Azhutha-Karimala-Sabarimala route last year that helped ensure that no untoward incident was reported.
“We have installed pan-tilt-and-zoom (PTZ) cameras at Uppupara and Zero Point on the Pulmedu route. The cameras at Seethakulam will be installed within a week. We have also set up multiple surveillance cameras at these spots. Wild animals roam the grasslands and these cameras will help us monitor their movement. If we find the presence of a herd in an area, we will alert the RRT, which will ensure the safety of pilgrims,” said Azhutha forest range officer Jyothish J Ozhakkal.
The department got the idea for the monitoring facility from the network developed by the Periyar East Division six years ago. This helped track the movement of wild animals, check forest fires and monitor human activity, including sandalwood theft and poaching. Besides, the network is used to monitor the interstate forest boundary.
“Real-time monitoring at Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) was achieved by installing towers, transmitters and receptors inside the forest with the permission of BSNL. We have an intranet that extends connectivity deep into the forest. PTR is spread over 925 sqkm and we have camp sheds, from where around 300 watchers monitor the forests. We have a control room managed by a team led by a section forest officer, who is also a techie,” said Periyar assistant field director P J Shuhaib.
The PTR monitoring system is being implemented in three phases. As part of the first phase a camera with live HD streaming was installed at Mangala Devi. In the second phase, the network was extended to 16 locations. The department is trying to avail CSR funds to implement the third phase, which will extend internet facility to all camp sheds. PTR is the only forest division in the country to install an in-house realtime monitoring facility. The first phase cost `4.75 lakh, while the second phase was implemented at an expense of Rs 26 lakh.
The Kaziranga National Park in Assam implemented a real-time monitoring facility with the help of an external agency at a cost of Rs 36 crore. “We have installed 36 cameras at various locations. The cameras are solar powered. The connectivity uses free bandwidth in two frequencies. The cameras are installed at elevated locations to help get a wider view. The camera at Poovarassu, 22km inside the forest, helped identify foot-and-mouth disease among wild gaur a couple of years ago,” said Cibu, who is in charge of the network.
Ayyan mobile app for pilgrims
Forest minister A K Saseendran on Thursday launched Ayyan, the forest department’s app to help and monitor Sabarimala pilgrims. The app provides information on Periyar Tiger Reserve, pilgrimage trek routes and dos and don’ts for devotees. It also has a calender with information on pooja timings and days when the temple opens for monthly pooja. There are five routes to Sannidhanam and a devotee who scans the QR code at an entry point will get information on the route, distance and approximate time taken to reach the hill shrine. “We have provided contact numbers for emergency. The app helps the monitoring team calculate the number of pilgrims on a route and in case of emergencies, like presence of wild animals, we will send alerts via the app. There are five resting points on Sathram-Sannidhanam route and devotees have to scan the QR code at each. It will help us understand the number of pilgrims between each point. The app will also help identify eateries on the route,” said range officer Jyothish.