AI-based detection system expected to be installed along Bengal railway tracks
The death of three elephants in North Bengal’s Alipurduar after a train hit them on Monday has prompted the authorities to install the system
An Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based Intrusion Detection System (IDS) was expected to be installed along the entire stretch of railway tracks in North Bengal following the death of three elephants in Alipurduar after a train hit them on Monday. Elephant corridors crisscross railway tracks in the region.
“We have installed IDS between Nagrakata and Madarihat in the Alipurduar district covering 37 km as a pilot project. No accident took place in that section,” said West Bengal’s chief wildlife warden Debal Ray. He cited the accident that left three elephants dead and added plans were afoot to cover the entire stretch of 158 km by June 2024 between Siliguri and Alipurduar.
“We have set up a committee comprising officials from the forest department and the railways. They would evaluate the pilot project by looking at the point when the system triggers an alert and the train comes to a halt, how many such alerts were generated, whether there were any false alarms, etc. The committee is expected to submit a report by December-end. Only then I would be able to say how accurate the system worked.”
IDS involves sensors that identify the movement of wild animals and alert control offices, station masters, gatemen, and loco pilots. The Northeast Frontier Railway and the state forest department developed the indigenous technology, which bagged the PMI South Asia award for micro-project of the year in September 2023.
“It uses fibre optic-based acoustic system to sense the real-time presence of elephants at the tracks. The AI-based software can monitor unusual movements up to 40 km on either side,” said a railway official.
West Bengal has the highest—26 out of the 150 or 17% of elephant corridors—in India. North Bengal has around 488 and South Bengal has 194 elephants.
A forest official said that barring the towns of Alipurduar and Siliguri, elephants cross the railway tracks all along the 158 km stretch in North Bengal, which includes forest and tea estates.
A Guwahati-Siliguri goods train hit the three elephants on Monday at the Buxa Tiger Reserve in Bengal’s Alipurduar district. In 2019-2020, at least five elephants were killed after trains hit them.
Officials said IDS will also help detect rail fracture, trespassing, and disaster mitigation due to unauthorised digging, landslides near tracks, etc.
