To check the growing incidents of man-animal conflict across the state, Bengal government is going to launch five vehicles with all modern equipment which will prove handy to the state Forest department to protect the villagers from the attack of the wild animals.
State Forest department is also recruiting Rapid Response Force (RRF) who will manage the vehicles. Around 55 members of RRF will soon be recruited by the Forest department. There will be 11 such members inside each vehicle which will rush to the spot whenever an animal intrudes into the locality and damages property.
Following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's instructions, the Forest department has started several steps to stop man-animal conflict which has taken a turn for the worse in Bengal in the last few years. Banerjee had asked the department to make sure that no human lives are lost in animal attacks.
State Forest Minister Binay Krishna Barman said: "We will soon introduce 5 vehicles to check the man-animal conflict in various parts of the state. Around 55 new squads of RRF will be inducted into service which will rush to the spots and control the situation. The main purpose behind the initiative was to protect the people from the attacks of the animals and prevent the damages caused by them."
The minister also mentioned that his department has already got an approval from the Chief Minister to recruit the RRF, a specialised squad who would act swiftly and meet the challenges at the time of crisis. Recruitment will be done very soon.
Out of the total five vehicles, three would be stationed in South Bengal while two will be there in North Bengal. Five spots where the vehicles would be kept have already been demarcated.
In North Bengal, one vehicle will be kept at Nilpara range while the other will be stationed at Sukna forest range. In South Bengal, two vehicles would be kept in Kharagpur and Bishnupur while one would be stationed in Kolkata.
It was learnt that each vehicle would be equipped with tranquilliser guns, tranquillising medicines, two flood lights on the two sides of the vehicle and also a high power LED light in the front. The LED light will be able revolve around its own axis by 360 degree. There will be a high power portable generator inside the vehicle, nets of various sizes and slings for pulling elephants into a truck. The emergency lights used by the department get exhausted within 3-4 hours causing problems in catching the animals. The vehicle will be fitted with a siren to alert the villagers.
The vehicles will have the arrangement of water so that it could be spread on the bison after they are being tranquilised. A doctor will also be available in the vehicle with a First Aid box.