Angul: The frequent man-animal conflicts in most parts of Angul district are soon going to be a thing of past. And what has hitherto been considered as near impossible can be made possible through a mobile application. The Angul forest division is the first in Odisha to benefit from the use of this application.
According to Angul divisional forest officer (DFO), V Kartik, the mobile app will be functional from next week. “The next 2-3 months the app will be used on a trial basis. Once trials are successful, the app will be used on a permanent basis. It will be used to send messages to close to five lakh people at one go. The numbers will increase with the passage of time,” informed Kartik.
Kartik said mobile numbers of 10 people from every village coming under Angul, Bantala, Durgapur, Chhendipada, Talcher and Kaniha ranges will be registered. In the first phase, 200 people will be included and later on police officers, electricity department officials and local sarpanchs will be added.
“This will help send messages to the targeted people, informing them about various government schemes, movement of animals and precautionary steps that need to be taken to avoid man-animal conflict,” Kartik said.
The application will be especially useful for Angul district for the frequent movement of wild elephants. Villagers residing in forested areas can be informed well in advance of elephant herds or other wild animal close to their villages, he said.
Informing about the other benefits, he said, “This app will go a long way in reducing man-elephant conflicts. When people will have advance notice about animal movement, it will also help them to save crops. Also if the villagers suffer loss of crops due to wild animals, they can register their grievances through this app.”
PNN