Nagpur: With foot patrolling of over 3.08 lakh km and over 18,526km of patrolling on vehicle in a year, the field staff of Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) has covered a cumulative distance equivalent to that between earth and moon.
Melghat is spread over an area of over 2,768 sq km. Regular patrolling in such a vast and rugged terrain, which faces poaching and grazing pressures, is a Herculean task.
“But M-STrIPES, (Monitoring System for Tigers — Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) software is showing desired results. We started in April last and the patrolling result is forthcoming,” said MS Reddy, chief conservator of forests (CCF) & field director.
“Each forest guard has a weekly target of 40km of patrolling in his beat. He has to achieve the target in 4 days. With M-STrIPES we are able to track whether the respective guard has been doing his job. A weekly assessment is done and those not moving are issued notices,” said Reddy.
Overall 229 forest guards, 66 round officers, and 6 groups (12 in each group) of Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) were involved in the exercise.
Reddy said M-STrIPES’ objective is to strengthen patrolling and surveillance. Forest guards are equipped with personal digital assistants (PDAs) and GPS devices to capture data related to tiger sightings, deaths, wildlife crime and ecological observations while patrolling.
“The software system maps the patrol routes of forest guards. The resulting data are then analysed in a geographic information system (GIS). This is intended to enhance effectiveness and spatial coverage of patrols,” said Vishal Bansod of Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), an NGO which did capacity building.
“Initially, the change was difficult to accept, but now the staff is amazed to see the results as intensive patrolling has resulted in recording information on presence of animals, mortality, illicit felling and poaching in and around the reserve,” said divisional forest officer (DFO) Vishal Mali.
“Today, every corner of the tiger reserve is traversed on foot by forest guards. The network of yellow lines in the MTR map indicate tracks created on GPS by each guard patrolling the forests. It is indicative of the fact that foot patrolling has facilitated better protection,” said Mali.
Bansod, who is also honourary wildlife warden of Amravati, is regularly reporting on patrolling system on a daily, weekly and monthly basis which is communicated to guards, RFOs and even the administration via app and e-mail so that communication doesn’t become a barrier.
“What Melghat is doing has also been praised even by National Tiger Conservation Authority through its team, which recently visited the park for management effective evaluation,” Reddy added.
