NEW DELHI: Indian Railways is working closely with experts to develop a high-powered camera system capable of capturing images of wild animals attempting to cross railway tracks, from half a kilometre away. The initiative aims to prevent wildlife from being run over by trains, particularly in forested regions, as well as elephant and tiger corridors.
The Ministry said the cameras would be fixed on top of locomotives. The camera will capture images of animals in the vicinity of the train tracks and send them to the loco pilots. The system is expected to be developed by October this year.
To strengthen this effort, the Railways has already laid Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) along railway tracks in several areas that fall within elephant and tiger corridors.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said that the OFC cables installed alongside railway lines are able to record vibrations and frequencies generated by an elephant’s movement from a distance of around 200–300 metres.
Within seconds, this information is transmitted to the railway control room, allowing timely alerts to be issued and train drivers to be cautioned to reduce speed.
He added that OFC cables have already been laid along a 62-kilometre stretch of railway track passing through elephant corridors, while work for an additional 148 kilometres has been awarded.
According to him, the Railways plans to install OFC systems along 1,370 kilometres of track over the next few years, with the possibility of expanding coverage to 3,000 kilometres at a later stage.
In recent times, seven elephants were killed in Assam after being hit by the Rajdhani Express while they were on the tracks. Prior to this incident, nearly 86 elephants have lost their lives over the past few years due to collisions with trains.