BENGALURU: Dashcams are no longer limited to keeping a watch on unruly commuters in urban areas. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) will be making optimum use of the technology in all tiger reserves across in the coming days.
All safari vehicles in the tiger reserves will be equiped with dashcams. The aim is to keep a watch on drivers and tourists and ensure rules are not violated. Sources in the ministry told this newspaper that the methodology used and its success in Karnataka can be implemented across the country.
For the first time in the country, forest officials in Karnataka fitted three safari vehicles in BRT Tiger Reserve with such cameras as part of a pilot study launched three months ago.
BRT Tiger Reserve Director Deep J Contractor said the study was launched after some allegations from tourists and forest staffers. The exercise was found to be successful.
Initially, the cameras were fitted at the mobile charging points of the vehicles. But now, the vehicles have been modified so that the chargers of dashcams are fitted within the bonnets. This ensures proper communication, she said.
All vehicles of the forest department, Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR) and field staffers now have these cameras.
The cost of each camera, including its installation, is Rs 10,000. The camera starts recording the moment the vehicle moves and the recordings can be seen at the offices of the top forest officials as the feed goes to the central server. This helps in effective monitoring.
Deep said the cameras have also helped in monitoring the movement of wildlife. In the last three months, no cases of violations have been reported, she added.
“There have been allegations such as safari vehicles not coming on time, drivers taking a detour to please tourists, drivers turning unruly, staffers seeking bribes, tourists misbehaving or sometimes chasing animals, and so on. The use of cameras will now put an end to such allegations. With not many vehicles and tourists, it was easy to conduct the trial in BRT. The challenge will be in Bandipur and Nagarahole tiger reserves,” a forest official said.