2 months ago
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The Environment Ministry and Indian Railways person identified 110 delicate stretches crossed elephant ranges and 17 further stretches successful 2 tiger-range States, to forestall wildlife-train collisions crossed the country. Several technology-based solutions are besides being tested to forestall specified collisions, officials said connected Thursday.
Comprehensive associated tract surveys, conducted by teams from Project Elephant, Wildlife Institute of India (WII), State Forest departments and Indian Railways, evaluated site-specific ecological conditions and projected targeted mitigation measures tailored to each location.
“Based connected a elaborate appraisal of 127 railway stretches covering 3,452.4 km, 77 stretches spanning 1,965.2 km crossed 14 States were prioritised for mitigation, considering wildlife question patterns and the hazard of carnal mortality,” a elder Ministry authoritative said.
Mitigation package
The recommended mitigation bundle for these precedence stretches includes 503 ramps and level crossings, 72 span extensions and modifications, 39 fencing oregon trenching structures, 4 exit ramps, 65 caller underpasses and 22 overpasses, the authoritative said.
“This amounts to a full of 705 mitigation structures designed to facilitate harmless wildlife transition and trim collisions,” helium added.
The authoritative further said that respective technology-based solutions are besides being tested and implemented to forestall wildlife-train collisions.
“One notable innovation is the Distributed Acoustic System (DAS)-based Intrusion Detection System (IDS) being deployed on delicate railway stretches crossed elephant landscapes,” helium said.
Pilot installations person been successfully commissioned successful 4 sections nether the Northeast Frontier Railway, covering a full of 64.03 km of elephant corridors and 141 km of railway artifact sections successful Assam, helium added.
Replicable intervention
“The strategy is present being replicated successful delicate railway sections successful northbound Bengal and successful parts of Odisha nether the East Coast Railway. Another promising involution is the AI-based early-warning strategy deployed astatine Madukkarai successful Tamil Nadu, which uses a web of 12 tower-mounted cameras equipped with thermal and motion-sensing technology,” the authoritative said.
He besides said that the strategy detects elephant question wrong 100 metres of railway tracks and automatically alerts wood and railway officials, enabling trains to dilatory down and allowing elephants to transverse safely.
The updates were shared during a two-day store organised by the Ministry successful collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India connected ‘Policy Implementation for Minimising Elephant Mortalities connected Railway Tracks’.
Wildlife-friendly projects
Additionally, respective caller railway lines and enlargement projects — including way doubling and tripling — person incorporated wildlife-friendly infrastructure.
These see the Gevra Road-Pendra Road railway enactment passing done the Achanakmar-Amarkantak elephant corridor successful Chhattisgarh; the Darekasa-Salekasa railway way tripling task and the Nagbhid-Itwari gauge conversion task successful Maharashtra.
A peculiarly important involution is planned on a 3.5-km delicate agelong of the Azara-Kamakhya railway enactment successful Assam, intersecting the Rani-Garbhanga-Deepor Beel elephant corridor wherever respective elephant mortalities had occurred successful the past.
This conception volition beryllium elevated to alteration harmless elephant question crossed the corridor.
