Bengal Govt launches vehicles to manage human-elephant conflicts

The Bengal Forest Department has launched four trucks equipped with state-of-the-art gadgets in Sukna, Malbazar, Madari and Buxa forest divisions in north Bengal for better management of conflicts between elephants and villagers living near forests.

These vehicles, named Airavat after the mythological white elephant which carries the god Indra, will help forest officials to spot wild elephants in order to drive them back into forests.

Each vehicle is GPS-enabled and has space to keep tranquiliser guns, which are needed to control marauding elephants. The trucks also have an assortment of slings, nets and iron shackles for lifting an injured elephant or one on a tranquiliser.

The vehicles are fitted with generators and high-powered LED lights at the front and back, that can revolve by 360 degrees.