An advanced but cost-effective alarm system would soon be installed at four places at Ennamangalam forest area in Erode Forest Division to detect the movement of wild elephants along forest boundaries.
I. Anwardeen, Chief Conservator of Forests, said that elephants raiding crops on agriculture lands was a major cause of concern for those living near forest areas.
Seven persons lost their life in man-animal conflicts near Ennamangalam forest area in 2017.
Hence, the department had proposed to install alarm system in the area.
When elephant crosses the boundary, the multiple passive infra-red sensor installed in the 500 m stretch absorbs the body temperature of the elephant and sets in motion sensor cameras. Sensors and cameras can rotate 360 degrees, he said.
The cameras, in turn, will capture the movement of elephants and images will be sent to authorities concerned. An alarm will be sounded from the system installed on the top of a house in the nearby village.
S. Anand, District Forest Officer, Erode Forest Division, told The Hindu that a light will flash to scare away the elephant to the forest.
He said that four spots were identified for the project and the system will be installed at a spot on a study basis.
On Saturday, Mr. Anand along with a team led by Jeyabarathi, a professor from SSN College, Chennai, that designed the system, inspected the spot where it will be installed. The team was asked to work on providing sms alerts to villagers.
The installation will be done by the end of the month, Mr. Anand said.
The cost of the system is less than ? 1 lakh.