Rapid Response Teams (RRT) to handle any emergencies arising out of man-animal conflicts have been officially instituted since Tuesday, with Nilgiris District Collector Innocent Divya inaugurating two RRT vehicles which will be used by the forest department.
The 12-member RRT teams, which have been instituted by the forest department, have been specially trained to handle environment-related emergencies, including forest fires, conflict management between humans and animals and also wildlife rescues.
The teams have also been given modern equipment which will help them deal with a range of issues that may arise out of man-animal conflict situations, from riot gear and mace pellets for crowd control, to snake kits to trap, capture and translocate snakes and wildlife safely, the RRT teams are expected to play an important role in mitigating human-animal conflicts.
Speaking to reporters here, Ms. Divya said that the Nilgiris had vast swathes of forest and that human-animal conflicts had been on the increase for the last few years, especially confrontations between people and Indian gaur in Udhagamandalam and Coonoor and between elephants and people in Gudalur.
While Gudalur already had a dedicated RRT, the newly initiated RRT teams will help people deal with animals, including farmers who fear they may sustain crop damage from animals, said Ms. Divya.
The RRT teams can be alerted to any potential conflicts through their dedicated hotline number – 1800-4253968. Ms. Divya handed over the keys to the two RRT vehicles to the forest department.
The event was attended by the District Forest Officers (Nilgiris North and South Divisions), S Kalanidhi and K Rajkumar.
