Bengal: Work begins to install sensor alert along railway tracks to prevent
elephant deaths (Kolkata)
Daiji World
November 29, 2022
Work has started for the installation of a sensitive sensor alarm system
along the railway tracks running through the jungles of the Terai and
Dooars region in north Bengal to prevent elephant deaths after colliding
with speeding trains.
A vast portion of these railway tracks pass through the forests that have a
number of crucial elephant corridors.
Once it is installed, whenever an elephant or a herd come near the railway
tracks, the sensitive sensor alarm system will send a signal to the nearest
station, which in due course will alert the driver of the moving train.
A message will be also sent to the nearest office of the concerned forest
ranger for further measures.
State forest department officials feel that once this system is fully
installed it will substantially bring down the incidences of tuskers dying
or getting injured after colliding with the speeding trains in the region.
As part of the pilot project, the system will be installed covering a
distance of approximately 50 km from Diana River Bridge at Nagrakata in
Jalpaiguri district to Matharihat in Alipurduar.
The forest department has already initiated two ambitious schemes to
prevent the human-elephant conflict which had been frequent in the state
over the years.
The first project is setting up dedicated elephant corridors in north
Bengal covering mainly the forest belts of Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri; and
Bagdogra and Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram in south Bengal.
The project is implemented at a cost of Rs 620 crore and is funded by the
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The second project is the appointment of 600 local youths from these
pockets as 'Gajamitras' (friends of elephants).
They will be provided with special Android sets with a specialised
Gajamitra app.
These Gajamitras will procure advance information about the movement of
elephant herds, alert the state forest department and local people, so that
preventive measures can be taken for avoiding human-elephant conflict.
https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=1024364
Bengal: Work begins to install sensor alert along railway tracks to prevent
elephant deaths (Kolkata)
Daiji World
November 29, 2022
Work has started for the installation of a sensitive sensor alarm system
along the railway tracks running through the jungles of the Terai and
Dooars region in north Bengal to prevent elephant deaths after colliding
with speeding trains.
A vast portion of these railway tracks pass through the forests that have a
number of crucial elephant corridors.
Once it is installed, whenever an elephant or a herd come near the railway
tracks, the sensitive sensor alarm system will send a signal to the nearest
station, which in due course will alert the driver of the moving train.
A message will be also sent to the nearest office of the concerned forest
ranger for further measures.
State forest department officials feel that once this system is fully
installed it will substantially bring down the incidences of tuskers dying
or getting injured after colliding with the speeding trains in the region.
As part of the pilot project, the system will be installed covering a
distance of approximately 50 km from Diana River Bridge at Nagrakata in
Jalpaiguri district to Matharihat in Alipurduar.
The forest department has already initiated two ambitious schemes to
prevent the human-elephant conflict which had been frequent in the state
over the years.
The first project is setting up dedicated elephant corridors in north
Bengal covering mainly the forest belts of Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri; and
Bagdogra and Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram in south Bengal.
The project is implemented at a cost of Rs 620 crore and is funded by the
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The second project is the appointment of 600 local youths from these
pockets as 'Gajamitras' (friends of elephants).
They will be provided with special Android sets with a specialised
Gajamitra app.
These Gajamitras will procure advance information about the movement of
elephant herds, alert the state forest department and local people, so that
preventive measures can be taken for avoiding human-elephant conflict.
https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=1024364
