After being used in the surveillance of the Dasara procession, drones are now foraying into a new territory - the forest.
A drone is keeping a vigil on nefarious activities and wildfire in the Bandipur National Park of the district. The step comes in the backdrop of the success of the pilot project undertaken by the union ministry of environment and forests and the Indian Wildlife Institute. The device had been deployed last year on a pilot basis at the Panna tiger sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and Kaziranga forest of Assam.
The device will now be used in all tiger sanctuaries of the country. The drone will keep a vigil on aspects like trespassing the forest, wildfire and hunting, especially of tigers. Equipped with state-of-the-art cameras, the movements of the drones will be remote controlled. The cameras can take pictures of high resolution. The battery-operated drone is being used on a trial basis in Bandipur. It hovers over the forest for 40 minutes in a specific area. The footage received from the drone will help contain forest fires or catch those trespassing the forest.
The drone is expected to help in the protection of wildlife at Hediyala, Nugu, N Begur, Gundre and Mulehole ranges of the Bandipur forest. The device has been developed by Key Falcon Solutions company. The Forest department has rented the drone for Rs 3,000 a day.
The company will pump back the rent money for wildlife protection. H C Kantharaju, director of the Bandipur National Park and conservator of forests, told Deccan Herald that more drones that can function at a stretch for three hours would be purchased.