Title - Centre approves surveillance cameras in Kaziranga National Park

GUWAHATI, Sept 27 – The Centre has approved installation of a real-time anti-poaching and wildlife surveillance system in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in the line of the one already in place in Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.
Altogether 12 surveillance towers with thermal cameras will be installed in the poaching-prone zones by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

State Forest Minister Rakibul Hussain told media persons that the proposal to install the electronic eye surveillance system had been approved by the Centre and a team of experts had already started working on it.

He said that the thermal cameras could capture movements even at night which would be very effective in tracking anti-poaching movements in forest areas.

Each tower would be able to cover a radius of 10 kilometres and the height of the tower will vary from 30 to 45 metres.

Hussain said that two control room would be set up – one at Bokakhat and the other in the office of the PCCF office, Guwahati. Besides, a control room will be set up in NTCA office in New Delhi, too.

He also informed that as soon as any suspicious movement was detected, the message would be passed immediately to the authorities concerned and swift action would follow.

“In the first phase, eight towers will be installed and the priority would be given to areas where poaching activities have been on the higher side, like the Karbi Anglong side of KNP,” Hussain said, adding that the process of adding wildlife habitat is also being taken up with the Revenue Department to prevent straying of animals.

“At the moment, Rs 30 crore has been earmarked as installation cost and apart from that Rs 50 lakh will be used for intelligence gathering from different sources,” the Minister divulged.