Coordinated effort by Forest-Railways reduces train collision deaths of jumbos in N Bengal

The railway tracks pass through Buxa Tiger Reserve, Jaldapara National Park, Gorumara National Park and Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, which have reported zero incidents of train-hit elephant deaths in the past two years due to joint surveillance between the two sides and IDS, the senior forest official said.

Coordinated efforts by the West Bengal Forest department and railways and commissioning of intrusion detection system (IDS) have resulted in zero incidents of death of elephants while crossing train tracks which pass through forest reserves and national parks in north Bengal in the past two years, an official said on Sunday. The railway tracks pass through Buxa Tiger Reserve, Jaldapara National Park, Gorumara National Park and Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, which have reported ''zero incidents of train-hit elephant deaths in the past two years due to joint surveillance between the two sides and IDS'', the senior forest official said. A joint monitoring committee, set up by the two sides, consists of forest officials deployed in railway control rooms to provide real-time updates on elephant movement, and strict speed restrictions in identified elephant corridors, he told PTI. While between 2004 and 2013, over 50 elephants were killed by trains in the region, between 2013 and 2023, around 30 elephants were killed by trains in the region, including the Madarihat–Hasimara and Rajabhatkhawa–Alipurduar Jn (Buxa) routes, the official said. In contrast, not a single elephant death occurred along the corridors in the past two years due to the stepped-up surveillance, he added. The high-risk areas included the stretches through Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, Jaldapara National Park (Madarihat), and Buxa Tiger Reserve. ''The Railways is commissioning an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to coordinate with our officials and staff, as well as the loco drivers, about any animal presence near tracks,'' he said. As part of the IDS project, thermal sensors are actively protecting the corridor by detecting elephants on railway tracks, and the system is operational in areas like the Madarihat-Nagrakata and Buxa Tiger Reserve sections using AI-enabled infrared cameras to alert loco pilots, he said, adding the North East Frontier Railway will be able to speak more about the details of the project. ''So far, we are concerned our officials are working in close coordination with the NFR, and we have significantly reduced fatalities,'' he added. The cameras are capable of detecting elephants in darkness, fog, or rain up to 700–750 meters away. ''The key focus areas include the 52-km Madarihat-Nagrakata section and the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), and the sensors have reduced close-call incidents and prevented fatalities in installed sections,'' he said. Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), North Bengal Bhaskar J V, along with senior officials from Buxa Tiger Reserve, Jaldapara and Gorumara national parks, and representatives of the railways, took part in a review meeting recently. ''This review enabled us to assess the efficacy of the IDS,'' the official said. ''We are also sharing real-time data with the Railways by merging our CCTV network with the Railways to track the movement of elephant herds. A pilot project for this integration will be launched soon,'' he added. The North Bengal initiative is part of a larger, ongoing 1,158-km, Rs 208-crore, AI-based project across multiple railway zones to ensure zero jumbo deaths in vulnerable stretches across the country, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said last month.

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