Chennai: In order to monitor poaching in forests and movement of wild animals, forest department is all set to deploy indigenously developed unmanned drones, state forest minister Dindigul C. Srinivasan informed the assembly on Tuesday.
Replying to the debate on demands for grants to the forest department, Mr Srinivasan said the state forest department would make use of the indigenously developed and low cost unmanned drones to enhance the forest surveillance.
“This scheme will be implemented after getting due permission from the defence ministry and Directorate General of Civil Aviation in 2016-17. Five drones would be purchased for Rs 20 lakh,” he said.
Also, forest department would observe September 11 as martyrs day to remember those forest workers who sacrificed their life to protect forest from fire and criminal activities like hunting and smuggling.
He also said there are 29 temporary assistant mahouts with the department and will regularized as permanent employees. Project Tiger and Project Elephant will continue in the state at an estimated Rs 20 crore using central funds and the state for the year 2016-17 will plant 68 lakh seedlings to enhance green cover. He also said medicinal plant cultivation will be taken up by the forest department to empower rural women.
Forest minister also said that to address the grievance of the forest dwellers, the forest department would hold a grievance redressal meeting every month on a particular day.
Grievances connected with forest department would be immediately addressed while issues related to other departments would be resolved through district collector, he said. As a pilot project, he said, it would be implemented in tribal concentrated 372 habitations in 83 villages in Thiruvannamalai district in this year.
Concerned over declining numbers of Palmyrah trees, which is the state tree of Tami Nadu, due to developmental activities, Mr Srinivasan said that Palmyrah protection and planting project would be implemented from 2016-17 to 2020-21 at a cost of Rs 1.60 crore.
