East Coast Railway to introduce IDS to prevent elephant hits on railway tracks

The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has planned to install intrusion detection systems (IDS) in the vulnerable sites of elephant passing zones and elephant corridors in Odisha to prevent their death due to train hit.

The system detects the presence of elephants on the railway in real time using an acoustic system built on fibre optic technology. According to railway sources, the AI-based system can track odd movement over a 60 kilometre stretch and can notify the control offices, station masters, gatemen, and loco pilots about tusker movement on the track.

The system will be installed on all the elephant crossing areas under the ECoR jurisdiction at a cost of Rs 79.12 crore.

As per the reports, existing optical fibres will be employed as sensors for this device.

The sections in which the device will be installed are; Maneswar-Bamur, Turekela-Lakhna, Mahanadi and Narla-Therubali under Sambalpur circle. Similarly, Kapilas Road-Raja Athagarh-Angul, Rambha-Ganjam and Nayagarh-Parjanpur sections under Khordha Road circle will also be installing this device.

Apart from saving elephants, IDS will also reportedly help in detecting rail fracture, trespassing on railway track and alert about disaster mitigation due to unauthorised digging near railway tracks, landslides near tracks.

The North East Frontier railway has already installed the IDS to help avert train-elephant collisions following the success of a pilot project.

Union Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed all the railway zones to adopt the system too.