Indian Railways has taken various initiatives in saving lives of elephants approaching railway tracks from being hit by trains. Some of these measures are – installation of laser speed radar gun, fixing of buzzer with honey bee sound, constructions of ramps and underpass at vulnerable locations.
Recently, the North East Frontier Railway (NF Railway) zone has decided to install an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to avert collision between the train and the elephant. For this, the zonal railway has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RailTel Corporation of India Ltd.
The IDS will help in preventing and detecting movement of wild animals. After the successful result of the implementation of IDS at Alipurduar Division’s Chalsa – Hasimara section, and Lumding Division’s Lanka – Hawaipur section, the NF Railway has decided to install the new system gradually in all other elephant corridors.
How Intrusion Detection System (IDS) will work:-
The Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and existing optical fibres. This will be used as sensors to identify movements of wild animals at locations and alert control offices, station masters, gateman, and loco pilot.
The system uses a fibre optic based acoustic system working on the principle of dialysis scattering phenomenon to sense the real time presence of animals on the track.
This AI based software can monitor unusual movements up to a stretch of 60 km. Apart from detecting wild animals, the new system will also help in finding rail fracture, trespassing on railway track and alert about disaster mitigation such as – unauthorised digging near railway tracks, landslides near tracks etc.
Laser Speed Radar Gun:-
The installation of Laser Speed Radar Gun helps in detecting speeding cases in elephant zones. The national transporter has asked all the train drivers and trackmen to observe all permanent and temporary speed restrictions.
About Buzzer with Honey Bee sound:-
The railways have also fixed buzzers with Honey Bee sound at Level crossing gates of vulnerable locations to chase away elephants.