Cameras with artificial intelligence have been installed inside Similipal National Park in Mayurbhanj district and Rourkela forest division in Sundergarh district to detect forest fires.
Drones and the Odisha Forest Management System (OMFS), an application to detect fire spots inside forests, are used to detect early fires.
The forest department has also created around 32,000km of firelines across Odisha to stop the spread of fire inside the forests. Under the fireline, a 20-foot clean road is made manually or using blowers so that fire doesn't spread from one area to another.
OMFS operates through mobile and web-based technologies and is supported by the Odisha Space Application Centre. The application is used in monitoring and visualising on-field activities of different forest divisions and has helped save hundreds of valuable trees and animals from forest fires.
Principal chief conservator of forests Suresh Pant told The Telegraph: "We are using this new technology. It gives real-time images. Once we get the image in the control room, we immediately alert the people on the ground. Within five minutes, the fire spotted inside the forest division is doused. Forest officials also upload the photos immediately.
"Artificial intelligence cameras provide photographs detecting fire up to a few kilometres. It provides fire images in 360-degree ranges. Since it is too expensive, we are only experimenting with the Similipal and Rourkela divisions. Later, we will cover all the forest divisions in a phased manner," Pant said.
He added that at the Similipal sanctuary, they have trained field staff to use drones for early detection of fires. Multiple drone operating teams have been formed and assigned areas for regular monitoring.