Dehradun: In a major push to curb wildlife mortality caused by train collisions, the Project Elephant Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Ministry of Railways, has identified 127 railway stretches covering 3,452.4 km across elephant and tiger habitats for targeted mitigation measures.
Comprehensive joint field surveys carried out by teams from Project Elephant, WII, State Forest Departments and Indian Railways evaluated ecological conditions at each location and recommended site-specific mitigation strategies.
Based on these assessments, 77 railway stretches spanning 1,965.2 km across 14 states have been prioritised for interventions, taking into account wildlife movement patterns and the risk of animal mortality.
These initiatives were discussed during a two-day national workshop on “Policy Implementation for Minimizing Elephant Mortalities on Railway Tracks”, organised by the Project Elephant Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India at WII in Dehradun.
The proposed mitigation plan for these priority stretches includes 705 structures designed to facilitate safe wildlife passage and reduce train collisions. These comprise 503 ramps and level crossings, 72 bridge extensions and modifications, 39 fencing or trenching structures, four exit ramps, 65 new underpasses and 22 overpasses.
Several new railway lines and expansion projects, including track doubling and tripling , have also incorporated wildlife-friendly infrastructure. These include the Gevra Road–Pendra Road railway line passing through the Achanakmar–Amarkantak Elephant Corridor in Chhattisgarh; the Darekasa–Salekasa railway track tripling project and the Nagbhid–Itwari gauge conversion project in Maharashtra; and the Wadsa–Gadchiroli railway line intersecting the Kanha–Navegaon–Tadoba–Indravati Tiger Corridor in Maharashtra.
A significant intervention is also planned along a 3.5-km stretch of the Azara–Kamakhya railway line in Assam, which passes through the Rani–Garbhanga–Deepor Beel Elephant Corridor, an area that has witnessed several elephant mortalities in the past. The section will be elevated to enable safe elephant movement across the corridor.
Technology-based solutions are also being deployed to prevent wildlife–train collisions. One such innovation is the Distributed Acoustic System (DAS)-based Intrusion Detection System (IDS), which is being installed along sensitive railway stretches across elephant landscapes.
Pilot installations have been commissioned in four sections under the North East Frontier Railway, covering 64.03 km of elephant corridors and 141 km of railway block sections in Assam. The system is now being replicated in sensitive railway sections in North Bengal and parts of Odisha under the East Coast Railway.
Another promising intervention is an AI-based early-warning system deployed at Madukkarai, which uses a network of 12 tower-mounted cameras equipped with thermal and motion-sensing technology.
The system detects elephant movement within 100 metres of railway tracks and automatically alerts forest and railway officials, allowing trains to slow down and enabling elephants to cross safely.
The workshop brought together 40 participants, including senior representatives from MoEFCC, the Ministry of Railways, forest departments of elephant-range states and leading conservation scientists.
Key railway zones represented at the workshop included the East Central Railway, East Coast Railway, North Eastern Railway, North East Frontier Railway, Northern Railway, South Eastern Railway, Southern Railway and South Western Railway.
During the workshop, participants examined state-level data, case studies and key drivers of wildlife–train collisions, including habitat fragmentation, land-use changes, train speeds, night operations and seasonal elephant movements.
Regional working groups also reviewed mitigation efforts across major landscapes such as the Shivalik–Gangetic Plains, Central India and Eastern Ghats, North-East India and the Western Ghats, while sharing best practices such as early-warning systems, sensor and AI detection technologies, GIS monitoring and community-based alert and patrolling networks.
