The Railway department has submitted a report in the Gujarat high court in favour of laying fibre cables next to the railway track,which pass through the lion populated areas of Gujarat.
The report suggests that they will also install intrusion devices with the help of Artificial Intelligence. This will help in detecting the movement of lions as they reach 200 meters proximity to railway tracks.
It is to be noted that at least seven lions were killed by trains in the last 12 months— a time period which ends on July 2024.
There was a total lion population of 674 in the region as per the 2020 census.
Gujarat’s Gir forest is the only place in the world which is a natural habitat of the endangered asiatic lions.
The Gujarat high court is currently hearing a public interest litigation concerning lion deaths on the railway tracks.
Earlier, the state government had informed the HC about the establishment of a high-level committee tasked with formulating modalities to ensure the unhindered movement of lions and protect them from railway accidents.
The report presented by Railway authorities on Friday claims that no lions have died in the last six months due to train accidents in the area.
The railway has been taking security to save lions from these premature deaths.
The device to detect movements of lions will be installed in Gir Sanctuary locality along with the adjacent areas where there is lion population.
The railway has also constructed underpasses at certain areas of the Sanctuary and done fencing surrounding the tracks by removing the trees.
The tender for intrusion devices have already started and it is expected that orders would be finalised within 3 weeks.
Earlier Gujarat HC has also directed to implement speed restrictions for trains when they pass through lion habitats.
Apart from the Gir Sanctuary area the nearby stretch between Liliya and Pipavav is also highly prone to lion accidents due to a population of approximately 100 lions.
Follow us
