Tamil Nadu’s first artificial intelligence (AI)-based early warning system to prevent wild elephants from getting hit by trains on railway lines along the Ettimadai–Walayar section, which links Tamil Nadu and Kerala, is nearing completion. It will give an additional layer of protection for pachyderms.
Forest Department officials said the installation of all 12 e-surveillance towers for the project — five along the ‘A’ line and seven along the ‘B’ line, of the twin single line — has been completed. To detect elephant movement, thermal imaging cameras have been fixed on all towers along the ‘A’ line, where a control room has also been set up. Camera-fixing and networking-related works are in the final stages along the ‘B’ line. The department is expecting the contractor to complete the works soon, they added.
S. Ramasubramanian, Conservator of Forests and Field Director of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, said trial runs would be carried out to check the functionality of the hardware and software of the AI-based early warning system.
The towers for thermal imaging cameras have been installed in the highly vulnerable area of 7.05 km of Ettimadai–Walayar section, passing through Solakkarai reserve forest of Madukkarai range, covering 2.9 km in the ‘A’ line and 4.15 km in the ‘B’ line.
At present, technicians are programming the AI-based thermal cameras mounted on towers along the ‘A’ line. The machine learning system will be enabled to detect movement of elephants in thickets. Once it becomes fully functional, the system will detect elephant movement and pass the message to forest department staff and railway authorities. Loco pilots will be able to reduce the speed of trains based on the alert.
Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forest, Tamil Nadu, is closely monitoring the works of the project, which together with the railway underpass project of the Southern Railway, aims at achieving the goal of ‘zero elephant deaths’ on railway tracks in the region.
Officials said that wild elephants have started using the railway underpass built by the Southern Railway on the ‘B’ line. Cameras fixed at the location showed two elephants passing through the underpass on October 12. One more underpass at another location on the ‘B’ line will be built.
A total of 11 elephants were killed in six train collisions on the two railway lines linking Coimbatore and Palakkad from 2008 to 2022.
