Maharashtra Forest Department is adopting various state-of-the-art technologies for wildlife conservation. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) based ‘fire detection system’ is the latest one which is going to be installed in Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) for early detection of forest fires. PTR is the first Tiger Reserve which will use this technology in the country. Apart from PTR, this technology is also in use in Amazon Forest. “Forest fire is a big threat for the department as it destroys the biodiversity of the forest in a very short time. This technology will help to detect fire and proactively extinguish it before its spread,” Dr Prabhu Nath Shukla, Deputy Director, PTR told ‘The Hitavada’. A Bengaluru-based company is providing this technology to PTR. “Under the contract, the company will help to install a tower with CCTV which can detect any form of smoke within the area of 10-15 kms in the forest. The sensor on the tower will send data to the control center after analysing the threat,” said Dr Shukla. “After sending the data to control center, we will get fire warning with location within five minutes of fire detection. It will help us to act before the fire spreads,” said Dr Shukla.