As elephant-train collisions escalate in India, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has prioritised 77 critical railway stretches, spanning approximately 2,000 km, as part of a comprehensive mitigation strategy. Between 2009-2010 and 2020-2021, over 200 elephants were killed in train hits in India. Assam reports the highest number of such fatalities, followed closely by West Bengal and Odisha.
To address the grave issue, the ministry under the leadership of Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav, initiated a consultation with key stakeholders including the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Ministry of Railways earlier this week.
The two-day national workshop “Policy implementation for minimizing elephant mortalities on railway tracks” came up with a wide range of solutions which include construction of 705 mitigation structures, adoption of AI-based warning system and special focus on sensitive stretches.
Identification of Stretches
The consultation identified 110 sensitive railway stretches within elephant habitats as well as 17 additional stretches in two tiger-range states to tackle the increasing instances of wildlife mortality on railway tracks.
To map the problem, comprehensive joint field surveys were conducted by teams from Project Elephant, WII, state Forest departments and Indian Railway. The surveys evaluated site-specific ecological conditions and proposed tailored mitigation for each location. After a detailed assessment of 127 railway stretches covering 3,452.4 km, the consultation identified 77 stretches spanning 1,965.2 km across 14 states for priority mitigation, taking into account wildlife movement patterns and risk of mortality.
Mitigation Measures
The mitigation package includes 503 ramps and level crossings, 72 bridge extensions and modifications, 39 fencing or trenching structures, four exit ramps, 65 new underpasses and 22 overpasses __ a total of 705 mitigation structures to facilitate safe wildlife passage and reduce collisions.
That apart, several new railway lines and expansion projects such as Gevra Road-Pendra Road railway line passing through Achanakmar-Amarkantak elephant corridor in Chhattisgarh; Darekasa-Salekasa railway track tripling project and Nagbhid-Itwari gauge conversion project in Maharashtra as well as Wadsa-Gadchiroli railway line which intersects the Kanha-Navegaon-Tadoba-Indravati tiger corridor have incorporated wildlife-friendly infrastructure as part of the bigger strategy.
A particularly significant intervention is planned along a 3.5-km sensitive stretch of Azara-Kamakhya railway line in Assam where several elephant mortalities have occurred in the past. This section, intersecting the Rani-Garbhanga-Deepor Beel elephant corridor, will be elevated to allow safe elephant passage.
The MoEFCC has also adopted the Distributed Acoustic System (DAS)-based Intrusion Detection System (IDS) which was successfully piloted in four sections under the North East Frontier Railway covering 64.03 km and 141 km of railway block sections in Assam. It is now being replicated in North Bengal and parts of Odisha under the East Coast Railway. The IDS technology sends laser pulses through the fibre analysing the light that bounces back to detect and locate sounds like footsteps, digging or cutting a fence, in real time. Another key intervention is an AI-based early-warning system deployed at Madukkarai in Tamil Nadu. A network of 12 tower-mounted cameras equipped with thermal and motion-sensing technology detects elephant movement within 100 meter of railway tracks. It automatically sends alerts to forest and railway officials, enabling trains slowdown and allowing elephants to cross safely.