Jalpaiguri: The Indian Railways has allocated Rs 77 crore for installing an Artificial Intelligence-based Intrusion Detection System (IDS) technology to prevent the death of wild elephants due to train hits. Along with generating awareness about the technology among the drivers, the surveillance along all elephant corridors has been steeped up.
Whenever an elephant comes near the railway track, the IDS system will detect it and send an alert to the railway personnel. The system will be installed in five divisions namely Alipurduar Railway Division, Rangiya Division, Lumding Division, Katihar Division and Alipurduar.
Despite railways and forest department officials coordinating with each other, it was getting difficult to avert jumbo deaths. In the past few years, the railways has saved the lives of 82 elephants by controlling the speed of trains. Now, the Ministry of Railways has taken a step forward to secure the free movement of elephants.
There are many elephant corridors over the railway tracks that runs through forests. The Railways Ministry has allocated funds to keep these corridors safe. It has been reported that most elephants died due to train hits under the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) especially in Alipurduar, Rangia and Lumding divisions.
Amarjit Gautam, divisional railway manager of Alipurduar Railway Division said, "We are doing everything possible to prevent elephant deaths. Last year we saved 62 elephants and this year 21 wild elephants have so far been saved from being hit by trains."
On Thursday, a pregnant elephant was hit by a goods trains in the Chapramari Reserve forest in West Bengal's Alipurduar. Gautam said that the accident is unfortunate. "The train was running at a speed of 30 km per hour. Loco pilots have been instructed to press emergency brakes if they spot an elephant on the track," he added.
The IDS technology will help in an early detection of elephant movement around the track. The Alipurduar Division has already installed this device on the railway track between Banarhat and Karon stations near the Red Bank Tea Garden.
Also Read: West Bengal: Pregnant elephant dies as goods train knocks down pachyderm in Chapramari Sanctuary
In the first phase, the IDS will be launched at Binnaguri station. The optical fibres that will be used as sensors to identify movement of wild elephants are being placed both in the forests and the railway tracks. If an elephant comes within 10 metres of either side of the railway track, the sensor will send an alert message through the optical fibres to the control room. From there, the loco drivers will be informed about the elephant's location through walkie-talkies.
