In a renewed effort to curb rising elephant fatalities on railway tracks, the West Bengal forest department has urged railway authorities to deploy Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology across sensitive stretches in South Bengal. The appeal follows last month’s tragic incident in which the Barbil-Howrah Jan Shatabdi Express rammed into a herd, killing three elephants, including two calves, near Jhargram.

During a joint inspection with railway officials, the forest department marked.

Panchet and Rupnarayan divisions as the most vulnerable zones for elephant movement. These stretches have been prioritised for the installation of DAS, an AI-driven system designed to detect elephant presence near tracks.

Success in North Bengal

Chief Wildlife Conservation Officer Sandeep Sundarial said the technology has already delivered encouraging results in North Bengal. “This technology 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 the past three years. We are hopeful it will prove equally effective in South Bengal,” he noted.

Rising elephant population in South Bengal

According to official data, the elephant population in South Bengal has risen nearly tenfold in 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. It uses distributed acoustic sensors made of optical fibers, installed along railway tracks, to detect vibrations such as elephant footsteps. These signals are transmitted to a central system, which instantly alerts train drivers, station managers, and control rooms, allowing them to take timely preventive measures.

Awareness and speed control

Alongside technology, the forest department has recommended greater driver awareness. Railways have been advised to deploy only experienced drivers on sensitive stretches, conduct regular orientation workshops on elephant movement patterns and enforce speed restrictions during peak elephant hours, typically early mornings and evenings.

Forest officials and environmentalists are optimistic that a combination of technology and human awareness will significantly reduce elephant deaths in South Bengal.

“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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