In a bid to prevent rising elephant fatalities on railway tracks, the West Bengal forest department has urged railway authorities to deploy Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology in South Bengal. The move comes after three elephants, including two calves, were killed last month when the Barbil-Howrah Jan Shatabdi Express rammed into them near Jhargram.
During a joint inspection with railway officials, the forest department identified several sensitive stretches prone to elephant movement. Panchet and Rupnarayan divisions have been marked as the most vulnerable areas where DAS could be installed.
Chief Wildlife Conservation Officer Sandeep Sundarial said, “This technology has already shown encouraging results in North Bengal, where it helped avoid several accidents despite the long-standing issue of elephants crossing railway lines. Not a single elephant death was recorded in that region in past three years. We are hopeful it will prove equally effective in South Bengal.”
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According to official data, the elephant population in South Bengal has increased nearly tenfold in the last four decades—from just 22 in 1985 to around 225 today. Most elephant movements occur along the Kharagpur-Tatanagar-Rourkela route, where more than 65 elephants have been killed in train collisions since 2000.
DAS is an intrusion-warning system developed by Indian Railways that uses artificial intelligence to detect elephant presence near railway lines. It relies on distributed acoustic sensors made of optical fibers and hardware installed alongside tracks.
“These sensors capture vibrations, such as elephant footsteps and transmit them to a central system. Instant alerts are then sent to train drivers, station managers and control rooms, enabling timely action to prevent accidents,” said a forest department official.
Alongside technology, we are emphasising driver awareness. Railways have been advised to deploy only experienced drivers on vulnerable stretches and to conduct regular orientation workshops on elephant behaviour and movement. Drivers have also been instructed to reduce train speeds during peak elephant movement hours— typically in the early mornings and evenings.
Forest officials and environmentalists believe that if these measures are fully implemented, South Bengal could see a sharp decline in elephant fatalities. “Protecting elephants while ensuring railway safety is both a challenge and a responsibility. Technology and awareness together can save countless lives,” a senior forest department official said.
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