AI cameras, canopy bridges to mitigate human wildlife conflicts (Guwahati) Prabin Kalita, The Times of India March 10, 2025 Minister Ajanta Neog's state budget has prioritised wildlife protection, introducing measures to mitigate manelephant conflicts, ensure primate safety, and secure animal zones. Key initiatives include the use of AI, canopy bridges, and safety nets to protect wildlife crossing roads and railway tracks, as well as securing open power installations in animal movement areas. Neog announced the ‘Gaja Mitra' scheme for five most humanelephant conflict-prone districts — Goalpara, Udalguri, Nagaon, Baksa, and Sonitpur. "It will focus on enriching elephant habitats, deploying AI-based camera traps for real-time alerts on elephant movement and advancing paddy procurement in frequent elephant foraging areas," she said. Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising Assam's efforts in mitigating human-animal conflict through Napier grass cultivation in one of his "Mann Ki Baat" episodes, Neog said state govt will take steps to promote commercial production of Napier Grass. This fast-growing fodder acts as a natural barrier to reduce elephant crop raids and supports Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) production. She said, "A leading industrial house has expressed interest in exploring this economic opportunity for Assam." Besides, solar fencing will be installed to further mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, she added. "We shall deploy many scientifically designed, robust canopy bridges with safety nets to ensure safe crossings for Hollock Gibbons, Golden Langurs, and other primates at key crossing points over roads and railway tracks, minimising the risk to wildlife," Neog said. "We will secure power installations like open transformers and insulation of all overhead power transmission cables in wildlife movement areas," she added. Neog proposed increasing ex-gratia for human life lost due to human-wildlife conflict from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh and raising crop damage compensation from Rs 7,500 to Rs 8,000 per bigha. She also announced the replacement of old safari vehicles in Kaziranga National Park with new, preferably electric, vehicles under a bank-assisted financing model. Under the theme "Today's Conservation, Tomorrow's Resilience," Neog said with the aim of strengthening forest governance, the department has announced Rs 9,000 monthly remuneration for 946 gaon pradhans in forest villages. She also highlighted the success of the Amrit Brikshya Andolan, which saw the planting of 3.19 crore seedlings across the state. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/ai-cameras-canopy-bridges-to-mitigate-human-wildlife-conflicts/articleshow/118856880.cms