Controlling wildlife and forest-related crime is essential for conservation. If offenders are not in prison and cases are still ongoing in various courts, no amount of effort can help conserve the species and our forest.
The conviction rates in forest cases are certainly poor if compared to other types of criminal offenses. To fight this issue through innovation and technology, the Karnataka Forest Department has launched a cloud-based information management system known as Garudakshi in the state.
The system is inspired by the HAWK (Hostile Activity Watch Kernel) of Kerala. The Karnataka Forest Department’s Information and Communication Technology cell (ICT), headed by Mr. Biswajit Mishra, has customized it according to the state’s needs with the help of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
Module 1 of this system, which deals with legacy cases (those that did not reach their logical conclusion and are still pending in multiple courts), has been implemented across the state. Module 2 for live cases is now in the pilot stage and is planned to be implemented by the end of June this year. It is being tested in the Shivmoga and Belgavi forest divisions.
Indian Masterminds reached out to the Chief Wildlife Warden Of Karnataka, Mr. Subhash Malkhede, and Range Forest Officer (ICT) Ms. Lekhadarshini, to understand this system and how it will help in monitoring all aspects of forest and wildlife crime.
“The Garudakshi won’t only help in managing & monitoring forest offences across the state but it will also help in getting conviction & conclusion of various pending cases”, said Mr. Malkhede to IM.
HOW IT STARTED
Garudakshi is not an exact replica of HAWK but is inspired by it. To develop it for Karnataka, the officers of the IT cell studied the HAWK systems, went through complete CrPc, and visited the Karnataka Police Department, as they already have a well-established Crime Monitoring system called Criminal & Crime Tracking System.
After this initial process, it was realized that a lot of customization would be required and all the procedures as per the CRP needed to be built.
MODULE 1 & MODULE 2
One of the main purposes of this software is to record all the forest cases and plug in all the procedural updates to those cases. This will allow a systematic approach to dealing with the offense and getting justice.
Module 1 of Garudakshi deals with legacy cases that are concurrent and pending. All the data related to these cases is being digitized. “100% of cases are not digitized yet, but the maximum is done. We have asked our range officers, who are the first responders, to enter all the details,” said Ms. Lekhadarshini.
It has made it easy to understand what kinds of cases (encroachment, poaching, timber, or confiscation) are pending. At what stage are they, and what are the procedures followed at each step?
Module 2, which deals with live cases, is in the pilot stage. When any new offense or case comes, all the information needs to be digitized. “If there is any seizure (vehicle or any artifact), that needs to be mentioned. The search warrant, court memos, and medical check-up of the offender, if he or she is apprehended, will all be put together in the Garudakshi system,” said the range officer.
They have chosen Shivmoga for the pilot project as all types of forest crimes are reported in that division.
DIFFERENCE FROM KERALA’S HAWK
Garudakshi is an improvised version of HAWK made specially for the state of Karnataka. While Hawk only deals with wildlife offenses, Garudakshi will record all kinds of forest-related offenses, be it illicit falling of trees, encroachment of forest land, smuggling of timber, etc. According to the officers, it will be a comprehensive forest offense management system, and everything will be fully automated.
THE IMPACT
Till now, Karnataka doesn’t have any IT systems that not only record the details but also help in the deposition of the cases. Earlier, when any offense was registered, an FIR was filed. Even though there were procedural labs, people would still oversee a few things due to a lack of knowledge, leading to loss in many cases.
Ms. Lekhadarshini claims that not everyone understands the situations and the procedures that must be followed. Garudakshi maintains a database of legacy cases from each category. This will let the officer register the cases and place them in the appropriate areas. This software also includes a digital forest infraction register, which simplifies the job of field staff.
They will be guided in each step, so the scope of overlooking things will be minimized. Garudakshi will also help in maintaining a case diary by the investigating officer. After he or she puts in the details, the case diary will be automatically generated.
The best part of Garudakshi is its dashboard. The information is accessible to everyone in the forest department, from the lowest to the highest ranks. They can examine what types of cases are there, whether there is a delay in any given case, and if somebody is in detention, who provided the authorization. In special circumstances, such as ivory smuggling, it will walk them through all of the unique laws and regulations that must be followed.
Besides that, each case takes a long time to conclude. Meanwhile, the main investigating officer can be transferred, and his entire legacy can be forwarded to someone else. If that officer is one of the witnesses, then he can always know about the updates in that case with the help of this software and can depose when needed. No extra effort will be needed for that.
Garudaskhi will also have a database of the modus operandi of each offense and will soon be integrated with the offender database of police (state & nation). This will make it easier to find out if the offender is a history-sheeter or not.
