India stops trains with artificial intelligence to save elephants

Assam, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu implement artificial intelligence projects to remotely detect the presence of elephants on tracks.

• Several Indian states are trying to stop the massacre of elephants hit by moving trains, using artificial intelligence.
• In Assam and West Bengal, 114 km of railway are already covered by cameras with sensors that alert trains to the presence of animals.
• A similar project is also underway in Tamil Nadu, which signals the approach of elephants less than 30 meters from the tracks.

In Indian culture, the elephant has a highly symbolic role:he is considered the protector of the home and family, and brings luck and abundance, longevity and wisdom.So India, or rather some regions of the country, are trying to reciprocate this protection by stopping the massacre of elephants on the tracks, thanks to the help of artificial intelligence.Only in the two states ofAssam and of West Bengal, between 2021 and 2022, occurred 85 fatal accidents, which involved elephants being hit by moving trains as they crossed the tracks.The southern state of Tamil Nadu has a smaller but still important number, with 36 elephants dying over the last decade.The answer, in both cases, is technology, and Artificial Intelligence in particular.

The Intrusion detection system to save elephants

 In Assam and West Bengal, Northeast Frontier Railway implemented a monitoring system called Intrusion Detection System (IDS), equipped with thermal cameras and sensors, to save elephants from Indian trains.This technology, powered by artificial intelligence, is able to detect the presence of elephants on the tracks and to send immediate alerts to operators.Using laser pulses, the system monitors the vibrations caused by the animals, sends them to a control unit from which the train alert is sent.The project is still in the development phase and at full capacity will cover an area of ​​147 km, but 114 km are already operational today and in the first six months of 2024, the IDS monitored over 30 thousand elephants, demonstrating its effectiveness in preventing accidents and in the protection of wildlife.This system not only reduces risks to elephants but also represents a significant step towards conserving biodiversity in India.

Tamil Nadu has also taken action

Even in Tamil Nadu, after 36 elephant deaths due to collisions in the last ten years, the High Court has issued an order for improving the safety of elephants along tracks.In response, the forest department installed 12 surveillance towers equipped with cameras with artificial intelligence near Madukkarai, a particularly critical area for the passage of elephants.Similar to those in Assam and West Bengal, these cameras, capable of thermal imaging and motion detection, alert railway authorities when elephants come within 30 meters of the tracks.

Thanks to this system, implemented just last February, approximately 400 dangerous approachesi, allowing timely interventions to slow down trains and keep elephants away.The project will cost a total of 72.4 million rupees, which is approximately 820 thousand euros, as explained by Supriya Sahu, secretary of the Tamil Nadu Forestry Department, but will allow us to overcome the old system of physical patrolling along the kilometers of tracks:a method that "had strong limitations", replaced with a more innovative one that "poses a significant" but definitely necessary challenge.