The death of two villagers during an elephant attack in a remote Alipurduar district village last monsoon prompted youths of the area to take to ham radio for better coordination to avoid man-animal conflict.
Villages of Baro Choukir Bosh, Chhoto Choukir Bosh, Chepani, Chhipra and Samuktala which are located on the fringes of the BTR (east) division decided to get themselves covered by ham radios, which are also referred to as amateur radios, following the death of two youths from Chepani.
The youths purchased five ham radios and then trained themselves.
“Training is very easy and no rocket science. We then obtained a licence from the government to legally operate the radios,” said Swarup Saha, secretary, North Bengal Amature Radio Society. The society was formed by youths of the five villages.
Any individual above the age of 12 years can become a ham radio operator in India after qualifying in Amateur Station Operators Certificate examinations, which is conducted by the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing of the Union ministry of communications.
The initiative was started by the villagers about three months ago.
“We are now able to spread messages about wildlife movement and depredation much quicker and easier. We have managed to reduce crop damage through the use of this network,” said a villager.
Earlier, the villagers would rely on mobile phones to communicate with the forest officials. “However, mobile connectivity is a major issue in remote villages,” the villager added.
Each village has kept a radio set each.
“We have individual call signs to connect with any particular radio set. If my sign is VU3KOX the call sign of my friend Priyam Iswarary, who is based in Chhoto Choukir Bosh is VU3YY. Information regarding the movement of wild animals is shared using the call sign,” said Shah.
The youths have bought two sets for ₹6,000 each while the remaining three costs ₹18,000 each by pooling in their funds.
“It costs less than some mobile phones,” said Shah.
Harikrishnan P.J., the deputy field director of the BTR, said that the use of ham radio has been effective.
“The radio network is useful in sharing information about the presence of wild animals in villages. The radio works well in remote areas and we are receiving information early. We will discuss with the villagers on how we can further expand the initiative,” said Harikrishnan.