Bhubaneswar, Aug 11: With the forest department planning to extend its facilities to all the areas within the next three years, the State’s forest would come under e-surveillance. Currently, the department has obtained 600 such devices from the Kolkata based private firm-Stesalit System.
The chief conservator of forests (GIS cell), Prafulla Kumar Mallick said that the device has such provisions where it will automatically transmit the data to a central server. The senior officers can access the data from the website www.odishaforestgis.in and take further action. The officer concerned sitting in the office will be able to view the exact location and the pictures of the spot, transmitted by the device, which will enable the officers to give quick instructions to the field personnel.
Presently, the field personnel do not have the provision to pass on the information to the reporting officer. The field staff transmits information verbally through Very High Frequency (VHF) towers which are then noted down on a register for record.
However, the PDA device will not replace the VHF-enabled communication system, but will be far more effective due to its feature of transmitting photographs and visuals.
