India, Aug. 13 -- The Madhya Pradesh forest department will deploy more than 100 armed guards, permanent check posts and a surveillance system to protect the Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary from illegal sand mining, officials said on Wednesday.

"By September, we will set up 16 permanent check posts, install 35 CCTV cameras, and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) monitoring system at 44 sensitive ghats, where rampant illegal mining has been reported. The decision follows the Supreme Court's suo motu action against sand mining in the sanctuary," said Shyam Singh, superintendent of Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary.

He added that the forest guards would get 12-bore pump-action guns after the state government granted immunity to the forest officials in fi...