RRU to equipped with armoured vehicles

KOZHIKODE: For years, frequent incidents of forest fire and the man-animal conflicts taking place in the forest fringes have been the major challenges faced by the forest officials in the state. In an advanced effort to combat these menaces, the Rapid Response Units (RRU) set up under the Forest Department will be provided eight armoured vehicles by March.“The recently formed RRUs, specially meant to address the man-animal conflicts and to rescue wild animals straying out of forests, would be provided eight Mahindra Bolero Camper (Modified) vehicles for their easy movement on forest paths,” said Forests Minister K B Ganesh Kumar.The department has ordered for the vehicles, which will be handed over to the units by this March, he added. These advanced armoured vehicles would be utilised by the forest officials during emergency situations such as man-animal conflicts, anti-poaching patrolling and fire-fighting among others. In the vehicles, nine persons could travel and would monitor movements of animals through satellite-linked collar system. In addition to this, dart guns, axe, baffle boards (shield), binoculars, camera, compass, first aid kit, generator, GPS tracker, search light, injury proof jacket, tent, walkie talkie and torch would also be kept in the vehicles. “With these facilities, the forest officials can stay for two or three days in dense forests,” added Ganesh Kumar. He said that the tender process for the modification of the vehicles is going on. “The eight vehicles would be modified on the lines of the armoured vehicles freely supplied by Wildlife Conservation Trust to the department in PeriyarTiger Reserve. They will have better facilities than the vehicles of the Trust. The department will buy anti-terrain vehicles (ATV) too to monitor the situations inside forests,” he added. “As per the direction of the minister, the department has recently formed three RRUs in Manarkkad, Peppara and Kozhikode in addition to the five RRUs in Ranni, Wayanad, Nilambur, Palakkad and Kannur, said Principal Chief Conservator of Forests V Gopinathan. Each unit is headed by a ranger officer and comprises two foresters,  four forest guards and two drivers.