News Excerpt:
Indian Railways develops 'Gajraj' AI software using optical fiber cable (OFC) to prevent train-elephant collisions in multiple states.
More details on the news
- The software triggers alerts within 200 meters, detecting suspicious movements near railway tracks using AI and OFC.
- 'Gajraj' distinguishes between elephants, other animals, and humans by identifying variations in optical signals.
- Alerts are sent to locomotive pilots, control room personnel, and section station masters upon detecting movement.
- Railway Minister cites 45 elephant fatalities in train accidents in the past three years, emphasising the critical need for the initiative.
- The software, successfully tested in Assam, is set to be deployed across 700 km of elephant corridors in multiple states within the next eight months.
Elephant Corridor in India
- Elephant corridors can be described as a strip of land that enables elephant movement between two or more friendly habitats.
- Elephant corridors have increased to 150 against 88 registered by the Government of India in 2010. The elephant population in the country is estimated to be over 30,000.
- A new elephant corridor report released by the central government showed a 40 % increase in elephant corridors across 15 elephant range states in India.
- The east central region contributed to 35 %, that is, 52 corridors, while the northeast region was the second largest with 32 %, meaning 48 corridors in total.
- Southern India registered 32, which is 21 % of the elephant corridors, while northern India was lowest with 18 corridors or 12 %.
- The increase in the elephant corridors also reflected that elephants have expanded their ranges in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra neighbouring Chhattisgarh and southern Maharashtra bordering Karnataka.
