COIMBATORE: From being death traps to safer routes for wildlife, the transformation of railway tracks in Coimbatore in less than three years has gained nation-wide attention.
The credit goes to Coimbatore forest division which in Nov 2023 introduced an AI-integrated early warning system and later a tethered drone system to bring down the death of wild elephants and other animals on the railway tracks passing through its jurisdiction. As per the official data, the system has enabled wild animals to cross railway tracks safely more than 25,000 times without a single recorded conflict incident. Implemented by Tamil Nadu forest department in Madukkarai forest range, which falls in Coimbatore forest division, the AI-integrated early warning system has generated 43,356 real-time alerts and facilitated 25,000 safe crossings. 7,592 elephants, 214 leopards, 669 gaurs and 21,612 deer have safely crossed the railway tracks in the division after the implementation of AI-integrated early warning system in Nov 2023, according to an official source. “The primary setup relies on AI-powered thermal cameras mounted on 12 towers.
Since its implementation, no wild animal deaths have been reported on the railway tracks in the division.
Warning sound produced by the system, meanwhile, forces elephants deviate from the route and take two specialized underpasses constructed by Indian Railways,” the source says. Managed round the clock by a dedicated command centre, these cameras monitor railway track corridors and instantly alert forest patrolling teams, if wild animals are sighted in their vicinity.