Odisha Forest Dept To Deploy Customised Vehicles To Keep A Tab On Poachers, Smugglers In Similipal

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Forest department is all set to deploy ‘Bolero Campers’, customised off-roading vehicles to keep a tab on poachers and timber mafia in Similipal Reserve Forest in Mayurbhanj district.

Altogether 14 of such off-roader camper vans will be unveiled by Forest Minister Pradeep Amat on the occasion of the 64th Foundation Day of Nandankanan Zoological Park. These vehicles will be deployed in Similipal from Saturday.

Sources said that the vehicles have been customised as per the specific requirement to undertake to patrol inside the Similipal forest. They have been painted in olive green colour and fitted with remote-controlled searchlights and heavy-duty winches to assist in rescue missions in both rain and winter.

These off-roaders are all-weather vehicles and are expected to be effective in curbing the activities of the timber mafia and poachers.

Amat is also slated to release the annual report and theme song of Nandankanan zoo at the Foundation Day event.

The Minister is also scheduled to unveil newly made wallaby kangaroo, cassowary, and ostrich enclosures. Nandankanan Integrated Monitoring System App and State Botanical Garden Website will also be inaugurated, sources added.