Ahmedabad: Western Railway has sanctioned an artificial intelligence-based intrusion detection system (IDS) to monitor lion movement near tracks. The IDS will cover 115km of the Damnagar-Pipavav section in the Bhavnagar division.The information was shared in a written reply on Friday in the Rajya Sabha by the Union minister for railways, in reply to the question by Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani, who sought to know whether plans exist for constructing an elevated rail corridor through Gir forest to protect Asiatic lions.The minister said that “for the safety of wildlife in Gir forest, apart from the existing two underpasses for lion movement, construction work for five more lion underpasses was taken up in the lion landscape”. The minister said that, additionally, work for implementation of an AI-based IDS for monitoring lion movement was sanctioned. The system is designed to generate alerts for loco pilots, station masters, and the control room about lion movement in proximity to railway tracks, for timely preventive action.The written statement stated that the existing railway network passing through the Gir forest area is a metre gauge (MG) section. For safety of wildlife, trains are operated at slow speed in the identified lion corridor.For coordination between the railways and the forest department, committees at various levels — circle, divisional and range — have been formed. These committees meet quarterly, bimonthly, and monthly, respectively. The govt stated that issues discussed at the meetings are resolved proactively by the railways.
