Forest dept urges Rlys to adopt acoustic tech in South Bengal to save elephants

Kolkata: The state Forest department has urged the Railways to introduce Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology in South Bengal to curb elephant deaths on Railway tracks. A month back, three elephants, including two baby ones, were killed after being hit by the Barbil-Howrah Janshatabdi Express while crossing a Railway track near Bastola Railway Station at Jhargram.

The department through joint inspection with the Railways has earmarked a number of sensitive spots where chances of elephant movement cannot be ruled out and have asked the Railways to install DAS in these areas. The Panchet and Rupnarayan divisions have been identified as one of the most sensitive zones. “The technology has yielded fruitful results in North Bengal where elephant movement along railway tracks has been a common phenomenon over the years. We are hopeful that it will augur well for South Bengal too,” said Sandeep Sundriyal, state Chief Wildlife Warden.

Over the past 40 years, the elephant population in South Bengal has grown tenfold—from just 22 in 1985 to 225 in 2025. High speed trains on elephant crossing routes, especially on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar-Rourkela stretch have killed over 65 elephants since 2000. The DAS technology is an intrusion based system developed by the Railways to detect the presence and movement of the jumbos along the Railway tracks. This AI-enabled system simultaneously alerts loco pilots, station masters and the control room about the movement of pachyderms on or near rail tracks enabling preventive action to avoid collisions.

The department has held a number of meetings with the Railways urging them to have loco drivers with experience of working in similar areas for running trains along the sensitive areas. “We are also holding orientation of drivers periodically to sensitise them about elephant movement and behaviour,” said a senior official of the Forest department.

The official added that the Railways are being asked to implement speed limits during dusk and dawn when elephant movement is high to reduce collisions.