A slew of measures taken to reduce elephant casualties on rail tracks are showing results. Cases of jumbos being killed by trains came down to nine last year from 26 in 2013. After a deadly 2013, when news of jumbo deaths on railway tracks frequently hogged the limelight, the Railways and Ministry of Environment introduced several safety measures. These included modern wireless animal tracking devices to follow the movement of elephants and satellite space navigation system to pre-warn drivers and battlefield surveillance radar system.
According to sources in the Environment Ministry, a sensor network-based early warning system developed by scientists from the Indian Institute of Science will now be introduced to prevent motorists/train drivers from running over wild animals on the roads or railway tracks passing through forests. This low-powered, compact device consists of two sensors and a retro-reflector screen. The two sensors are installed on opposite sides of the road or the rail track with one alongside the retro-reflector. If any object comes between the two sensors, the retro-reflector screen triggers the setup to reveal the distance, height, speed and profile/shape of the object detected by the sensor. This would issue early warnings to approaching motorists or train drivers to look out for wildlife. It would also give them enough time to reduce the speed of the vehicle and avert such tragedies.
The system would come to the rescue of wildlife like leopards, deer and most importantly elephants, which have been frequent victims of speeding trains, particularly in North Bengal. At least 50 elephants died after being run over by speeding trains in North Bengal in the past ten years. The device will capture data with an accuracy rating up to 98.5 per cent for the animal’s height and that for time and distance it covers up to 94 per cent.
Meanwhile, the cumulative figures of jumbo deaths since 2013, as furnished by Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha in Rajya Sabha on Friday stood at 37. There were two jumbo deaths till February this year. Sinha also informed members about other measures being taken by the Railways on the directives of the Supreme Court to check such pachyderm deaths on rail tracks. These include identification of paths and corridors taken by elephants to cross rail tracks and spotting areas where speed restrictions could be put in place.