Drones to track jumbos in S Bengal

Kolkata/Bankura: The forest department is leaving no stone unturned to check man-elephant conflict in south

Bengal

. It has now decided to make the best use of technology.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was procured for the Sunderbans will be sent to

Bankura

on an immediate basis to track elephants' movement. Confirming the development, chief wildlife warden

Pradeep Vyas

said: "The drone will be sent to Bankura soon. We are in the process of procuring another drone. At times, we identify the problem elephants, but can't track them by foot inside the forest. Here the drones will come handy."

The forest department has also brought five trained 'kunki' elephants from

Jaldapara

and

Gorumara

in north Bengal to capture two jumbos, which were earlier declared 'rogue' by the department. Vyas said once the foresters get to know the location of the couple of jumbos with the help of the drone, the trained elephants will be pressed into service.

So, how will the drone function? The gadget, fitted with a GPS device and high-resolution camera, can stay in the air for almost 45 minutes each time. "A trial run was earlier held in the Sunderbans. Patrolling staff on the field will get the signals and access images relayed to them through the drone's receptor. Once in use, this will save time as far as wildlife management is concerned," a forester said.

State

agency

Webel Technology

has procured the gadget on behalf of the forest department. An official said that the drone costs approximately Rs 2 lakh and its range is 4-5 kilometres. Vyas said the state would procure four to five more such gadgets for north Bengal too.

In the first six months of this calendar year, 22 humans were killed by elephants in various parts of Bankura. On the 'rogue' elephants, Vyas said: "These two jumbos in

Borjora

and Sonamukhi were declared rogue earlier. But, the order's tenure had lapsed. We have only renewed the earlier order."

The five 'kunki' elephants have reached

Gangajalghanti

in Bankura from Jaldapara on Wednesday evening by road, said range officer of Gangajalghanti Tarun Banerjee. Five 'mahouts' (trainers) have also accompanied them. The jumbos have been named Shilabati, Kaveri, Champakali, Lakhsmi and Sambhu. Shilabati and Kaveri were born in Bankura and the foresters later sent the duo to Jaldapara to train them. At present, more than 150 to 200 elephants are roaming various forest ranges of Bankura. In her recent administrative meeting at

Jhargram

, chief minister Mamata Banerjee roughed up the foresters and expressed concern over the man-elephant conflict in south Bengal.