Pilibhit: Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and forest department officials have joined hands to apply advanced technology in forest regions of UP for effective monitoring of wildlife and vigil against poachers.The officials on Tuesday began an exercise to test the applicability of hi-tech gizmos manufactured by DRDO in tightening vigil in the forests.Earlier on Monday, a DRDO team of two directors and scientists had discussion with state’s two principal chief conservators of forest and field directors of Dudhwa and Pilibhit Tiger Reserves about the salient features of three advanced devices manufactured by DRDO and their utility in the forests. The DRDO scientists also demonstrated how the three devices work.Talking with TOI, DRDO’s director Manish Bhardwaj said, “One of the three devices is a laser fence system. Each unit is equipped with a transmission pillar and a receiver pillar. This unit forms an invisible laser wall within a 500-meter stretch between the two pillars.” This fence system is capable in recording any intrusion through the laser wall be it day or night and transfer the video to a computer system installed within a 10-km radius of the device.”The laser fence also has an integrated wireless hooter that instantly warns staff concerned of any intrusion. “The laser fence system runs on battery, including solar power. It can produce excellent results with recorded evidence in cases of intrusion of wildlife criminals and details of wildlife straying out of the forest,” Bharadwaj explained.On the cost of one unit, the DRDO official said it could be a couple of lakhs. Forest officials responded by saying the laser fence would be quite affordable in comparison to chain link fencing around a forest range.DRDO recently installed some 40 laser wall units on the LOC in Jammu and Kashmir and it has been quite effective, said DRDO scientist DP Ghai.The other two devices that were presented before the forest officials were an optical target locater (OTL) and explosive identifier. “The OTL is a laser-based sophisticated surveillance device that is used for VIP security, border surveillance, active monitoring and sniper detection,” said Hari Babu Shrivastav, another scientist.The OTL has an effective range up to 1,500 meters and it can provide precise target coordinates specifying the exact location of detected threat. It can play a crucial role in detecting poachers in forests, he added.The explosive identifier, he explained, functions on Raman spectroscopy. “We have fed signatures of 50 explosive substances to the memory of device. The device is capable of detecting the type of explosive within a few seconds,” he explained.In the forests, the devise can be used to identify the type of toxic substance used by poachers for poisoning of wildlife like tigers and leopards, he said.According to principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) of UP, Sunil Pandey and the directors of DTR and PTR, Ramesh Pandey and H Rajamohan respectively, the devices could bring fundamental change in safety and security system of forests and wildlife specially amid the overall crunch of field forest force.Pandey said. “We will launch a pilot project with these devises to find out whether they need and further modifications in terms of the specific needs of forest conservation and wildlife protection.”

Stay updated with all the Bareilly Lates News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.