November 26, 2018
Bangla Govt to explore tech use to prevent elephant deaths
The State Forest Department, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, held a workshop at Chalsa in north Bengal on November 16 and 17 to explore technologies that can be adopted to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks.
It was attended by scientists and experts on forest and wildlife across the country. Besides representatives of the Forest Department, senior officials of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the Railways and Wildlife Institute of India, and representatives of NGOs and local communities were present.
The workshop deliberated upon and showcased the various technologies available, and there are quite a few available currently. Among technologies that were discussed at length, three sensor based technologies – seismic, acoustic and infrared – were welcomed unanimously.
IIT Delhi has come up with a seismic sensor technology that gives a vibratory signal about elephants’ movements near rail tracks, once the sensors are fitted on to rail tracks. A message is sent to the nearest station master and the drivers of trains about to pass through the area, so that they remain alert.
Technologies involving CCTV surveillance and sending alerts through SMS to the train driver were also discussed deeply.
The death of pachyderms on rail tracks has been a major cause of concern across the country, including for the Bengal Forest Department. The spurt in death of elephants in recent times is mostly related to the change from a metre gauge track to a broad gauge track in 2003, along with the associated increase in the speed and number of trains.
Source: Millennium Post
