MoEF&CC in efforts to implement AI-based animal warning system for railway strains operating by means of jungles: MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh

An Artificial intelligence (AI) primarily based early warning system for the security of wildlife might be applied in any respect railway strains passing by means of forests, stated Kirti Vardhan Singh, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, on Tuesday.

“We are attempting to try this throughout all of the railway strains that run by means of jungles and run close to jungles. This goes to be applied not just for elephants, however for different wildlife additionally. We have a whole lot of tiger deaths occurring, additionally [due to train hits] and different wild animals. It might be applied in all such areas. From the Centre, we’re taking it to implement it as quick as attainable”, he stated. The Minister, when requested whether or not his Ministry would replicate a profitable AI-based warning system, which Tamil Nadu applied on railway tracks to forestall elephant deaths at Madukkarai close to Coimbatore.

Mr. Singh, who attended World Elephant Day celebrations in Coimbatore on Tuesday, stated human – animal battle was one of many prime priorities of the Ministry.

“We are taking all precautions and using the most recent strategies to minimize and mitigate the state of affairs. We are utilizing radio collars, satellites and synthetic intelligence. But the unhappy truth is that since human communities dwell so intently with nature. So when you ask me can we make 100 % proof, no we will’t. Because we dwell with them… But we’re taking all attainable insurance policies and plans to scale back it as a lot as attainable,” he stated on the sidelines of the celebrations.

Supriya Sahu, Secretary of Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department, confused the necessity for sharing finest practices from every State for the administration of human – wildlife battle and habitat safety.

The Minister launched ‘Healthy Feet, Healthy Elephants: A information to foot care in captive Asian elephants’; a particular version of Trumpet, the quarterly publication of the Project Elephant; Hostile Activity Watch Kernel (HAWK) app of Tamil Nadu Forest Department; ‘An Ancient Bond: The elephant Whisperers of Mudumalai’, a espresso desk e book by Tarsh Thekaekara; ‘The Lost Elephant and the Soul Tree’ by The Hindu journalist Akila Kannadasan.

He additionally offered the Gaj Gaurav Awards to Ganesh Tamang and Sumit Gogoi, mahout and attendant of Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department; Kesu Singh Walke and Sahadan Ram Lakda, assistant mahouts from Madhya Pradesh Forest Department; S. Karthikeyan and M. Murali, forest guard and anti-poaching watcher from Dharmapuri circle in Tamil Nadu; and Irshad Ali, mahout from Uttar Pradesh Forest Department.

Sushil Kumar Awasthi, Director General of Forest and Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Srinivas R. Reddy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Head of the Forest Force, Tamil Nadu; and Rakesh Kumar Dogra, PCCF and Chief Wildlife Warden, Tamil Nadu, additionally spoke.