Nashik: The Nashik forest department has provided wireless sets to the forest guards and other personnel involved in patrolling the jungle areas to prevent illegal felling of trees. For this, the forest department has also installed a satellite tower in Anjaneri near Trimbakeshwar. The wireless service system has been made operational in eight ranges — Bare, Nanashi, Peth, Harsul, Trimbakeshwar, Igatpuri, Sinnar and Nashik — of the Nashik West division.Earlier, due to network issues inside the forest areas, contacting the on-ground staff was an issue. Hence, it was difficult to take action against illegal activities, a forest official said.Now the wireless system will help the forest department curb illegal transporting of forest goods like khair and logs of various trees, the official added.The forest department has over 200 employees across the eight ranges. In the first phase, 60 wireless sets have been provided and another 150 sets will be provided in phases in the next few months.There have been several incidents of illegal felling and transport of khair trees in forest areas in the district. A patrolling team of Nashik forest department also seized logs of a khair tree that were illegally hacked in the past, the official said.Khair wood is in a huge demand across the country for its use in making kattha — the main ingredient in paan and other tobacco and non-tobacco products, the official said.Hence, the forest department has taken the initiative of providing wireless sets to the forest guards to put a stop on the illegal activities, he added.We also published the following articles recentlyFun Challenge: Find the Hidden Frog in This Forest Optical IllusionThis optical illusion challenges you to find a hidden frog in a forest within 5 seconds. The frogs color blends with the greenery, making it difficult to spot. Only 1% of people have successfully solved it. The key hint is that the frogs color matches the foliage. If you cant find it, the frog is discreetly hidden in the left corner of the image. The frogs eyes are cleverly hidden within a leaf. Follow for more puzzles and mind-bending tricks.Bengaluru: Leopard elusive for 4th day; foresters trace pugmarksA leopard that was spotted near MS Dhoni School in Bengaluru has eluded authorities for the fourth day in a row. Despite using advanced equipment, the team of foresters has only been able to find pugmarks and leopard scat. The leopard was seen entering an abandoned building, prompting an increase in search efforts. Samples of scat revealed that the leopard has been preying on stray dogs. Authorities have set up cages and are using thermal imaging cameras and drones to locate the leopard.Forest dept demands decrease in train speed limit after jumbo dies in accidentThe forest department in Bijnor district has requested a reduction in the speed of trains to 35 kmph from 80 kmph to protect wildlife. This comes after a male elephant was killed by a train on the Kotdwar-Najibabad branch line. The elephant was thrown from the track and died due to severe injuries and excessive blood loss. Forest officials have written to the Divisional Railway Manager to issue an order to reduce train speeds. The incident also caused damage to power poles and resulted in the cancellation of a passenger train. Train operations have since resumed.

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