Rourkela: Divisional forest officer (DFO), Rourkela Jasobant Sethi has been conferred with the Elite 100 Changemakers of Odisha 2024’ award for the innovative use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the protection of wildlife.
He received the award from Governor Haribabu Kambhampati at a function held in Bhubaneswar during the Republic Day celebration. Sethi, in a pilot project, innovatively used AI in the protection of wildlife under the Rourkela Forest Division. Implementation of the AI-backed tracking system immediately showed results as it managed to save five elephants that were perilously closer to the railway tracks. These elephants were part of a larger herd consisting of 28 elephants.
Rourkela and its nearby areas have criss-crossing railway tracks. The place has an infamous history of elephant deaths due to collisions with moving trains. Two months ago, one elephant died and another was injured near Bisra.
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“Keeping these facts in mind, I thought about devising an alarm system with 24-hour monitoring at my office so that precious lives can be saved. And AI came as an answer to that,” said the DFO. When the towers were established, a chief engineer from Indian Railways visited the spots along with the forest officials.
At this moment as part of the pilot project in Odisha, four towers have been set up at strategic locations. “The cameras can send real-time pictures to our control room 24×7,” informed the officer. During night the thermal images appear at the control room, making it easier to keep track of things like forest fire, poaching, jumbo deaths due to collision of trains,” he added.
“Our mock drills using our staff as poachers to spot at night have been successful,” he asserted. Each tower costs Rs52.8 lakh for installation and maintenance throughout the year.
PNN
