Rishikesh Morning joggers/ elderly walkers are sometimes stopped by the Rajaji National Park Forest guards at the Doon road check point not to venture further as elephants might be on the troll.
Trains heading to Dehradun and near the city are sometimes blocked by the herd. Now to prevent elephants from being hit Park authorities will install seismic sensors and thermal cameras to warn them of animal movement near railway tracks.
Developed by Chandigarh-based Central Scientific Instrumentation Research Organization, the pilot project of the system at RTR is being launched in collaboration with the Union Forest Ministry, Wildlife Institute of India and the WWF. This detection system will be installed along tracks passing through the reserve’s 18-km Kansro range, where over two dozen animals, mostly elephants, have been killed by trains in the last three decades.
The system, the first-of-its-kind will be installed within six months, Rajaji Tiger Reserve Director PK Patra told PTI. Ten seismic sensors and thermal cameras will be installed along the tracks at six points in the range, he said.
The system will detect any movement of elephants and animals alike, and warn officials at the central server facility. The director said, data from the system will be analyzed at the facility and after confirming the presence of an elephant in the range, it will generate alerts for patrolling staff, the train’s pilot and the nearest railway station.
Besides the 6 points identified for the detection system, which will be 50 meters apart from each other, the 18-km stretch will have elephant proof barricading, he said. The identification of these points was done on the basis of observation of frequency of elephant crossings, Patra said.
