Nagpur: The state government is banking on AI-powered technology to prevent human-animal conflict as nearly 1,000 cameras track predator movements around villages and farmlands to advance warning citizens. On Saturday, the government signed its own entity, Maharashtra's Advanced Research and Enhanced Law Enforcement Agency (Marvel) vigilance and MOU, implementing a system that alerts villagers whenever the web of cameras detects animal movements. Marvel was launched by the state government in collaboration with IIM-Nagpur and private technology companies.From Tadova to Navegaon, Marvel creates a system in which such intrusions will be detected. Tadova already has an “AI wall” that uses cameras to detect the presence of predators.“Previously, there were fewer tigers, so we have developed policies that the government has developed policies to protect them. Now it continues to increase each year. For this reason, the government teamed up with Marvel, which is led by IPS officer Harssh Poddar. The revenue minister for Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “Around 900 cameras will be installed to monitor the movement of predators. Every time a village or leopard is found near a village, an alert will be sent immediately to everyone there.”Cases of human-animal conflict have been rising in eastern Vidhava, which has led to strong protests by the people. In 2024, protests exploded after a big cat was killed by a tiger hours after a young man was injured in a village bordering Pliers near Deorapal. Villagers suffered damage when the forest sector entered the area reflecting people's rage over the rising conflict.As the current government understands the problem of Tiger's population growth, efforts were being made to find viable solutions. Over the past two months, Jaiswal and Bawankule have coordinated with Forest Minister Ganesh Naik to reach a commonality. A meeting was held in Mumbai last month, where the three of them looked into various issues related to the conflict.As reported by TOI, the government has begun working on a scheme to lease buffer areas land from farmers, ensuring that they don't have to risk their lives while farming. In this way, farmers will actually acquire bonds from the government without having to struggle there.
