India plans 705 mitigation structures to prevent elephant-train collisions

The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change MoEFCC through its Project Elephant Division organised a twoday national workshop on Policy Implementation for Minimising Elephant Mortalities on Railway Tracks at the Wildlife Institute of India WII in Dehradun on March 1011 2026An official statement said that at the event around 40 participants including senior officials from MoEFCC the Ministry of Railways forest departments of elephantrange states and conservation scientists Representatives from several major railway zones also took part including the East Central Railway East Coast Railway North Eastern Railway North East Frontier Railway Northern Railway South Eastern Railway Southern Railway and South Western RailwayIndia supports more than 60 per cent of the worldrsquos population of Asian Elephant Major elephant habitats extend across eastern northeastern southern and central regions of the country an official statement saidHowever expanding railway infrastructure and increasing habitat fragmentation have resulted in a rise in elephant fatalities on railway tracks States such as Assam West Bengal Uttarakhand Odisha Tamil Nadu Karnataka Kerala Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have reported several such incidentsThe workshop aimed to strengthen coordination between conservation agencies and infrastructure authorities while promoting sciencebased mitigation strategies officials said on ThursdayIdentification of sensitive railway stretchesTo tackle the issue MoEFCC in collaboration with WII and the Ministry of Railways has identified 110 sensitive railway stretches across elephant habitats along with 17 additional stretches in two tigerrange statesJoint field surveys conducted by teams from Project Elephant WII state forest departments and Indian Railways assessed ecological conditions at each site and recommended locationspecific mitigation measuresA total of 127 railway stretches covering approximately 34524 kilometres were analysed Of these 77 stretches spanning about 19652 kilometres across 14 states were prioritised for mitigation based on wildlife movement patterns and the risk of animal collisions the statement saidProposed mitigation measuresIt said that the experts recommended a comprehensive package of infrastructure interventions aimed at facilitating safe wildlife movement across railway corridors These include 503 ramps and level crossings 72 bridge extensions or modifications 39 fencing or trenching structures 4 exit ramps 65 new underpasses and 22 overpassesIn total 705 mitigation structures have been proposed to reduce wildlifetrain collisions and allow animals to cross railway lines safelyWildlifefriendly railway infra projectsSeveral railway expansion projects have already incorporated wildlifefriendly designsExamples include the Gevra RoadPendra Road railway line passing through the AchanakmarAmarkantak Elephant Corridor in Chhattisgarh Other projects include the DarekasaSalekasa railway track tripling initiative and the NagbhidItwari gauge conversion project in Maharashtra the statement saidThe WadsaGadchiroli railway line in Maharashtra also intersects the KanhaNavegaonTadobaIndravati Tiger Corridor making wildlife mitigation measures particularly importantKey intervention in Assam elephant corridorOne of the most significant planned interventions concerns a 35kilometre stretch of the AzaraKamakhya railway line in AssamThe section passes through the RaniGarbhangaDeepor Beel Elephant Corridor an area that has recorded multiple elephant fatalities in the past Authorities plan to elevate this stretch of railway track to allow elephants to move freely beneath itAuthorities are also testing advanced technological systems to prevent wildlifetrain collisionsOne such innovation is the Distributed Acoustic System DASbased Intrusion Detection System IDS being deployed across sensitive railway sections in elephant landscapesPilot installations have already been commissioned in four sections under the North East Frontier Railway covering about 6403 kilometres of elephant corridors and 141 kilometres of railway block sections in Assam The technology is now being expanded to sensitive railway areas in North Bengal and parts of Odisha under the East Coast Railway it saidAnother notable initiative is an AIbased earlywarning system deployed in Madukkarai in Tamil Nadu The system uses a network of 12 towermounted cameras equipped with thermal imaging and motion sensors to detect elephants within 100 metres of railway tracks and alert forest and railway officials so trains can slow downFocus on sciencebased conservation planningThe workshop featured technical sessions covering elephant ecology infrastructure planning and biodiversity conservationParticipants examined statelevel data case studies and major drivers of wildlifetrain collisions including habitat fragmentation landuse changes high train speeds nighttime operations and seasonal elephant movementsRegional working groups also reviewed mitigation efforts across major landscapes such as the ShivalikGangetic Plains Central India and Eastern Ghats NorthEast India and the Western Ghats the statement saidExperts highlighted best practices including earlywarning systems AI and sensorbased monitoring technologies GISbased wildlife tracking and communitybased alert networksCall for stronger coordinationParticipants stressed the need for closer collaboration between railway authorities forest departments and scientific institutionsIt further said that the workshop called for standardised protocols for risk assessment improved monitoring systems enhanced data sharing and quicker response mechanisms in collisionprone areasExperts also recommended expanding research on AIbased detection and remote sensing technologies while developing a national roadmap under Project Elephant and the Ministry of Railways to reduce elephanttrain collisions through coordinated sciencedriven efforts