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Ambush patrolling, e-surveillance: How Corbett is being guarded during lockdown
Amid the coronavirus outbreak across the country, the Uttarakhand forest department in March had ordered that Corbett Tiger Reserve, along with all protected areas and zoos in the state remain closed till further notice.
Ambush patrolling, e-surveillance, vigil from watch towers along with regular patrolling is how Corbett Tiger Reserve administration is working to ensure poaching activities do not take place in the sanctuary, after an alert was issued by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau last month.
Even after so many precautions, two camera traps from Kalagarh range of the reserve were found to be broken by forest staff this week.
The director of Corbett Tiger Reserve said that two cameras were broken by local villagers who entered the park from Uttar Pradesh border.
“We found that two cameras were broken by local villagers after they flashed and that must have scared the villagers. We were able to identify by people through their pictures caught on other cameras and are interrogating them as to why they were inside the forests. But due to the lockdown the investigation is not progressing at a good speed,” said Rahul, who uses only his first name.
Officials said three persons have been taken in so far for questioning and two more are still missing.
But the Corbett administration has increased vigil and is ensuring that any untoward activity can be avoided. The director said that it is very difficult to monitor the boundaries of the park due to the lockdown because there could always be people waiting to enter the forests.
“Due to the lockdown it is difficult to take pre-emptive actions in nearby villages and find out if there is any new movement or people who have settled in and due to these challenges we are keeping a vigil day and night through almost 500 camera traps and around 12-15 watch towers in key areas apart from regular patrolling during the day,” said Rahul.
These camera traps, still cameras and video cameras had been set up in March this year to keep an eye on any kind of movement and for surveillance inside the park.
“We are also doing ambush patrolling at sensitive points across the boundary of Corbett where a team of armed forest staff of around four-five members camp at night and ascertain that there is no human activity inside the park like lighting a fire or anything similar. We also use night vision binoculars to keep an eye from the watch towers,” added Rahul.
Elaborating on e-surveillance, Rahul said that from Ramnagar to Kalagarh, there are ten towers where thermal cameras have been installed for better surveillance.
“These cameras are connected to our tiger cell in Ramnagar through radios where we can check continuous live footage of any movement in that region. Around 40 km of boundary is covered by these cameras, so we are constantly ensuring that untoward activities are kept under check,” said Rahul.
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in the last week of April had issued an alert asking tiger reserves and forest departments to increase vigil and strengthening of intelligence network after a few members of the notorious Bawaria gang went missing from their original spots in Haryana and Punjab, said officials.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak across the country, the Uttarakhand forest department in March had ordered that Corbett Tiger Reserve, along with all protected areas and zoos in the state remain closed till further notice.
Believed to have around 260 tigers at present, Corbett Tiger Reserve which is spread across 1,288.31 square kilometers is one of the most –frequented tourist destinations in the state. The gates of Corbett open on November 15 every year for six months till mid June.
Corbett witnesses a footfall of around 3 lakh tourists every year across its six eco-tourism zones, with Dhikala and Bijrani being the most popular ones.
