Tiger Protection in Telangana Gets Boost With Central Command Centre
New command centre to track tiger movement and cut human–wildlife conflict
Hyderabad: The forest department on Tuesday launched a significant initiative to improve protection and monitoring of tigers and other wildlife, with forests and environment minister Konda Surekha launching a tiger protection cell, a first of its kind statewide initiative in the country.
Speaking at the launch at Aranya Bhavan, the department headquarters, Surekha said the facility will function as the state command centre for monitoring tigers and movement of people in and out of the two tiger reserves, using solar-powered CCTV cameras that will be linked to the tiger protection cell. To begin with, the new facility will be linked to the regional centres in Amrabad and Kawal tiger reserves and, in the days to come, all other wildlife sanctuaries in the state will be added to this network.
While field officers are expected to upload data daily by 5.30 pm, once the system is fully expanded, data from camera traps, and GPS tracking of tigers will enable the department to alert people in villages near forests on movement of the big cats and this will help in reducing human animal conflicts. Appreciating the work of the wildlife safety team of the department for their work, Surekha said she was happy that Telangana had India’s first tiger protection. She said she would inform Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on this important achievement during Telangana Rising programme on November 28.
The minister said that the department was ensuring transparency by uploading all data to the Telangana Forest Management Information System (TGFMIS) portal, adding that Telangana was proving that technology could greatly improve wildlife protection. She said the tiger monitoring cell would make forests safer, support staff on the ground, and help secure the future of wildlife in the state.
Among those who took part in the launch event were principal chief conservator of forests Dr C. Suvarna, Chief Wildlife Warden Elu Singh Meru, zoo parks director Dr Sunil Hiremath.