6. Use of communications technology as an advance warning to train drivers
and signalling staff Electronic surveillance can be undertaken to assess its
efficacy in detecting elephants close to the railway track. Various technologies
have been suggested, including seismic sensors that measure ground vibrations
to record elephant presence, infrared (thermal) sensors and cameras to provide
images of elephants along railway tracks, infrared beams to detect the movement
of an elephant, and even acoustic devices to scare elephants from tracks when
trains are approaching. These require considerable R&D for field situations,
extensive field trials, and evaluation of cost-effectiveness before being deployed
on a large scale. GPS collaring of representative animals in family herds and
bulls would help in the fine-grained analysis of their movement pattern along the
railway track, and help in planning mitigation measures.
7. Realignment of a portion of the track The existing track can be realigned so as
to avoid passing through the Buxa Tiger Reserve West Division and the
Jaldapara National Park, where a large number of accidents has taken place. The
Southern line between New Jalpaiguri and New Alipurduar can be doubled to
handle the increased traffic. There are four possibilities for realignment of the
Northern line (Fig. 10.7).
(i) From the Dalgaon Railway station the track can be diverted and/or linked
to the southern line, namely, Salbari–Falakata station between the New
Jalpaiguri Junction– and the New Alipurduar Junction line so that some
trains can be diverted before the Jaladapara—Buxa Reserve forest areas
to avoid accidents.
(ii) From the Madarihat Station, the track can be diverted and/or linked to the
southern line, namely, the Falakata station, along the New Jalpaiguri
Junction–New Alipurduar Junction line so that some trains can be diverted
before the Jaladapara–Buxa Reserve forest areas to avoid accidents.
(iii) From the Madarihat Station the track can be diverted and/or linked along
the southwest periphery of the Jaldapara National Park (NP) and southern
periphery of Jaldapara and Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) linked to
Alipurduar Junction.
(iv) The fourth possibility is to realign the northern line from Hamiltanganj/
Kalchini to Damanpur by diverting the line along the south west border of the
Buxa Tiger Reserve via Nimati and along south of highway NH31, which is
linked to Damanpur, to avoid going through the Buxa Tiger Reserve.
Besides these technical recommendations, it should be kept in mind that limiting
accidents to elephants from train collisions is extremely challenging, requiring the
active participation of a number of stakeholders that include the Indian Railways,
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Govt. of India), West Bengal
Forest Department, NGOs, elephant biologists/conservationists, engineers and
technologists, tea garden management, and the people living along the track. We
suggest that various solutions be implemented at an experimental level, and then
monitored over a reasonable time frame for testing their efficacy. The most
cost-effective solutions should then be selected and implemented on a larger scale,
thereby reducing collision risks and ultimately contributing to the conservation of
elephants in India and elsewhere in Asia
172
M. Roy and R. Sukumar
and signalling staff Electronic surveillance can be undertaken to assess its
efficacy in detecting elephants close to the railway track. Various technologies
have been suggested, including seismic sensors that measure ground vibrations
to record elephant presence, infrared (thermal) sensors and cameras to provide
images of elephants along railway tracks, infrared beams to detect the movement
of an elephant, and even acoustic devices to scare elephants from tracks when
trains are approaching. These require considerable R&D for field situations,
extensive field trials, and evaluation of cost-effectiveness before being deployed
on a large scale. GPS collaring of representative animals in family herds and
bulls would help in the fine-grained analysis of their movement pattern along the
railway track, and help in planning mitigation measures.
7. Realignment of a portion of the track The existing track can be realigned so as
to avoid passing through the Buxa Tiger Reserve West Division and the
Jaldapara National Park, where a large number of accidents has taken place. The
Southern line between New Jalpaiguri and New Alipurduar can be doubled to
handle the increased traffic. There are four possibilities for realignment of the
Northern line (Fig. 10.7).
(i) From the Dalgaon Railway station the track can be diverted and/or linked
to the southern line, namely, Salbari–Falakata station between the New
Jalpaiguri Junction– and the New Alipurduar Junction line so that some
trains can be diverted before the Jaladapara—Buxa Reserve forest areas
to avoid accidents.
(ii) From the Madarihat Station, the track can be diverted and/or linked to the
southern line, namely, the Falakata station, along the New Jalpaiguri
Junction–New Alipurduar Junction line so that some trains can be diverted
before the Jaladapara–Buxa Reserve forest areas to avoid accidents.
(iii) From the Madarihat Station the track can be diverted and/or linked along
the southwest periphery of the Jaldapara National Park (NP) and southern
periphery of Jaldapara and Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) linked to
Alipurduar Junction.
(iv) The fourth possibility is to realign the northern line from Hamiltanganj/
Kalchini to Damanpur by diverting the line along the south west border of the
Buxa Tiger Reserve via Nimati and along south of highway NH31, which is
linked to Damanpur, to avoid going through the Buxa Tiger Reserve.
Besides these technical recommendations, it should be kept in mind that limiting
accidents to elephants from train collisions is extremely challenging, requiring the
active participation of a number of stakeholders that include the Indian Railways,
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Govt. of India), West Bengal
Forest Department, NGOs, elephant biologists/conservationists, engineers and
technologists, tea garden management, and the people living along the track. We
suggest that various solutions be implemented at an experimental level, and then
monitored over a reasonable time frame for testing their efficacy. The most
cost-effective solutions should then be selected and implemented on a larger scale,
thereby reducing collision risks and ultimately contributing to the conservation of
elephants in India and elsewhere in Asia
172
M. Roy and R. Sukumar