Smart patrolling in Sundarbans begins in September

Khulna: Smart (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) patrolling will begin in Sundarbans from September to ensure the overall security of the world's largest mangrove forest, and to reduce criminal activities of the pirates as well as wildlife and forest-related crimes.

According to sources at Forest Department, smart patrolling system was introduced earlier in Sundarbans under the auspices of various private organisations which noticeably helped reduce forest crimes.

Following the good experience, the Forest Department sent a proposal to the Ministry of Environment and Forests in April last to continue the smart patrolling' on regular basis and it later received the approval to start the process from September, said Forest Conservator of Khulna Amir Hossain Chowdhury.

Each smart patrolling group will have eight members with four fire arms and three water vessels - one mother vessel, one speed boat and a fiber boat.

Moreover, each group will conduct the drive in the forest for 12 to 14 days. Global Positioning System (GPS) and Cyber Tracker will record its activities which will be scrutinised later through a memory card.

During the drive, the patrolling team can even take help from different law enforcement agencies including police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Bangladesh Coast Guard, said the sources.

Now, it is not possible to monitor the activities of the patrolling team as the entire mangrove forest is not under telephone and internet network coverage.

If the forest area comes under internet service in future, then it will be possible to monitor the activities of smart patrolling team directly.

Sources at the Forest Department also said the patrolling activities in the forest area are being hampered due to insufficient budget.

They cited that Tk 10 lakh has been allocated for this sector in the current fiscal year.

On the other hand, it costs about Tk 1.5 lakh for each drive which means the total budget covers only 7 days' driving costs.

However, the sources expected that additional allocation will be granted for the smart patrolling project that will help run the drives more smoothly.

Earlier in 2016, a smart patrolling project began in four ranges of the Sundarbans with patrolling group formed under the World Bank-funded Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection Project.

The modern technology-based project is used to check wildlife in more than 140 geographical sites in 31 countries.

It is also a familiar system in the forests of neighbouring countries - India, Nepal and Thailand.

 

Smart patrolling in Sundarbans begins in September

Khulna: Smart (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) patrolling will begin in Sundarbans from September to ensure the overall security of the worlds largest mangrove forest, and to reduce criminal activities of the pirates as well as wildlife and forest-related crimes. According to sources at Forest Department, smart patrolling system was introduced earlier in Sundarbans under the auspices of various private organisations which noticeably helped reduce forest crimes. Following the good experience, the Forest Department sent a proposal to the Ministry of Environment and Forests in April last to continue the smart patrolling on regular basis and it later received the approval to start the process from September, said Forest Conservator of Khulna Amir Hossain Chowdhury. Each smart patrolling group will have eight members with four fire arms and three water vessels - one mother vessel, one speed boat and a fiber boat. Moreover, each group will conduct the drive in the forest for 12 to 14 days. Global Positioning System #40;GPS#41; and Cyber Tracker will record its activities which will be scrutinised later through a memory card. During the drive, the patrolling team can even take help from different law enforcement agencies including police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Bangladesh Coast Guard, said the sources. Now, it is not possible to monitor the activities of the patrolling team as the entire mangrove forest is not under telephone and internet network coverage. If the forest area comes under internet service in future, then it will be possible to monitor the activities of smart patrolling team directly. Sources at the Forest Department also said the patrolling activities in the forest area are being hampered due to insufficient budget. They cited that Tk 10 lakh has been allocated for this sector in the current fiscal year. On the other hand, it costs about Tk 1.5 lakh for each drive which means the total budget covers only 7 days driving costs. However, the sources expected that additional allocation will be granted for the smart patrolling project that will help run the drives more smoothly. Earlier in 2016, a smart patrolling project began in four ranges of the Sundarbans with patrolling group formed under the World Bank-funded Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection Project. The modern technology-based project is used to check wildlife in more than 140 geographical sites in 31 countries. It is also a familiar system in the forests of neighbouring countries - India, Nepal and Thailand.