3 days ago
- Science
- New Indian Express
Public see at first hand how virtual solar fencing alerts about wildlife
NILGIRIS: Virtual solar fencing that enables alerts to forest department staff on wild animal presence near human habitations is one of the measures adopted to secure humans from wildlife attacks. In a first, the public were invited to see at first hand how it works.
Smart Virtual Fencing System is a solar-powered device that uses infrared sensors to detect the intrusion of any animal and send alerts to staff who will reach the area and divert.
On Thursday, officials of the Gudalur forest division took a group of people in and around Gudalur-Valparai stretch in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) to study the progress of its rollout.
Fifteen people, including various party functionaries from the Sri Madurai and the Devarsholai panchayats, along with five other staff of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department reached Valparai and monitored the progress of the project.
Naadukani Forest Range Officer R Ravi led the visitors.
The aforementioned panchayats are prone to threat from wild elephants from the nearby Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.
Valparai and Manomboly forest range staff explained to the visitors that 1,300 solar fences — 700 in Valparai and 600 in Manomboly — have been set up at a cost of Rs 2.99 crore under the Tamil Nadu Innovation Initiatives (TANII).
Those set up near labour residential quarters have been successful in mitigating adverse human-elephant interactions last year.
