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.Since its implementation, no wild animal deaths have been reported on the railway tracks in the division. 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.Impressed by this success story, states such as Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya have now officially approached Coimbatore forest division to replicate this model to curb wild animal deaths on their railway tracks.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.According to an official source, 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.“The primary setup relies on AI-powered thermal cameras mounted on 12 towers. 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. 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.According to the source, the system helps capture critical information regarding elephant movement patterns, individual profiling, social behaviour and morphological traits, aiding forest authorities in future decision-making.It was in Feb this year that the state forest department launched a 24×7 drone surveillance unit under the modernization of forest force scheme at a cost of Rs8.67 crore. This system adds an extra layer of protection capable of tracking movements up to 2.5 kilometres away, covering blind spots, dense bushes and the terrain beyond the reach of static towers.V Vignesh Kumar, senior business development manager, Tamil Nadu Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Corporation, says three tethered drones are operating round the clock along the railway lines A and B near the Tamil Nadu–Kerala border. The drones operate on staggered shifts, receiving a half an hour break every four hours, while the remaining units maintain active surveillance.Thermal cameras with 360-degree rotation categorize the surrounding area into red, orange and green zones based on elephant proximity, he says, adding, when a tethered drone detects movement, an automated alarm and GPS-enabled message containing exact location data are sent to a control room in Pudupathi village, as well as to field guards.“A trained pilot then deploys a mobile surveillance drone equipped with a 30x zoom camera, flashlights and loudspeakers to safely herd the elephants away from the tracks and guide them towards railway underpasses,” he says.N Vengadesh Prabhu, district forest officer, says their vision is to have zero collisions on tracks. “Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Andhra Pradesh have approached us and we are ready to provide help to other states on this technology.”
