GUWAHATI: The state forest department will set up control rooms in 11 divisions in order to manage the man-elephant conflict in the state. This was decided in a meeting held at the office of the principal chief conservator of forests, Panjabari on Wednesday.
The meeting was chaired by state forest minister Parimal Sukhlabaidya and was attended by pollution Control Board of Assam (PCBA) chairman AM Singh, divisional forest officers (DFOs) from across the state, members of NGOs working in the field and other concerned officials.
During the meeting, the minister called for suggestions from the officials on mitigating the man-elephant conflict in the state. Some of the suggestions included setting up of a control room in all divisions with adequate manpower.
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“We need to first identify the areas which are most prone to man-animal conflict and set up control rooms in these areas. The control rooms should be functional 24 hours so as to cut the response time in case of any emergency,” said Sukhlabaidya.
This apart, following the footsteps of West Bengal’s ‘Airavat’ vehicles, the state will also procure four vehicles to decrease the trouble caused by man-animal conflict in the state.
These vehicles will be equipped with all state-of-the-art equipment.