Nagpur: CM Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said Maharashtra was the only state to have developed its own technology to prevent human-tiger conflict, as he marked International Tiger Day in Nagpur by praising an AI-based early warning system built to alert villagers before a tiger strays close.“I am very happy that MARVEL, which is our Maharashtra’s AI company, and our Nagpur SP Harssh Poddar, have built a very good model that gives early warning of a tiger’s movement,” Fadnavis said.He said the system did not depend on camera images alone. “This is not only picture-based. When a tiger moves, some animals call out to tell the forest where the tiger is. This is the law of the jungle,” he said. “Our tribal brothers, who have lived in the forest for generations, know this well, and that is how they saved themselves. We have now brought that same knowledge into AI.”Fadnavis said the system could sense danger even without sighting the animal. “Even if a photo of the tiger is not captured, the system senses the calls of these animals and gives an early warning of where the tiger is,” he said. He said the technology would sharpen with use. “As the system works, it will become more refined, and in future it can be replicated across the entire country,” he said.Fadnavis was speaking on the sidelines of the International Tiger Day event the state govt hosted at IIM Nagpur. The system, run by MARVEL and implemented by Poddar, is operational in the buffer areas of Pench Tiger Reserve and the Nagpur Territorial Forest Division. Maharashtra has 444 tigers as per the 2022 estimate, the fourth highest in the country, across six tiger reserves.
