Foresters in the north and southern parts of the state have arranged dozens of vehicles in association with the administrations of different districts to ferry higher secondary examinees dwelling in the fringes of wildlife habitats to the exam centres and also get them back home.

From Tuesday, higher secondary examinations will commence across Bengal.

The decision has been made following the death of a Madhyamik examinee in Jalpaiguri district due to an elephant attack.

Last month, while the boy was moving through a reserve forest on his father’s bike, a wild tusker attacked them and killed the boy.

“We have arranged vehicles for the examinees living in forest villages or in hamlets that are close to elephant habitats. Some other steps have been taken to confirm that the examinees do not take jungle roads,” said state forest minister Jyoti Priya Mallick.

In Jalpaiguri, around 430HS examinees reside in the fringes of forests, said sources. Most of these students dwell in Malbazar, Nagrakata, andBanarhat blocks which are in western Dooars.

“Specific route maps have been drawn to avoid forest roads. Also, vehicles have been assigned and forest teams have been asked to monitor the movement of these cars,” said a senior forester.

As a preventive measure, the department has installed 18 drop gates on different forest roads so that no one takes a shortcut to reach the exam centres.

Similar measures were taken in south Bengal also.