Officials of Northeast Frontier Railway and the Bengal forest department have jointly decided to introduce the software-based Intrusion Detection System (IDS) along the entire 162km stretch of tracks between Alipurduar and Siliguri junctions to avert wild animals, especially elephants, from colliding with trains.
At a meeting held in the divisional railway manager’s office in Alipurduar on Saturday, it was planned to install the system experimentally.
The system was earlier introduced in Lumding of Assam and in some vulnerable sections of Alipurduar division. As the system has been found effective, it will be installed in more areas to avert animal deaths.
Amarjit Gautam, the divisional railway manager of Alipurduar, said: “The IDS will be introduced in the whole section. We introduced it in Nagrakata and Madarihat and the result is satisfactory. We want animal deaths on tracks to stop. In the past few years, there has been a considerable reduction in wildlife deaths on the track. In a number of incidents, loco pilots have stopped trains so that elephants can safely cross the tracks.”
Ujjwal Ghosh, the additional principal chief conservator of forests who attended the meeting, said they also formed joint committees for better monitoring.
Illegal caterpillar fungus
Foresters of Baikunthapur forest division arrested two persons from Siliguri with caterpillar fungus and no valid documents related to the item on Friday night.
The arrested duo — Dhendup Tamang of Kalimpong and Gobind Chhetri of Nepal — are allegedly associated with a racket engaged in the smuggling of items related to China through the India-Nepal border, senior officials of the state forest department said.
Forest guards of Ambari range of Baikunthapur raided a house at Samarnagar, a locality in Siliguri on Friday evening.
Tamang had taken the house on rent, they said.
“He was arrested with 14 grams of caterpillar fungus. After interrogating him, the other person (Chhetri) was picked up from Mallaguri,” said Rajendra Jakhar, the chief conservator of forest (wildlife, north).
According to him, three other members escaped with another 950 grams of the fungus.
Sources in the department said the fungus is used in traditional Chinese medicines to treat asthma and renal problems and also as a painkiller. It has a huge demand in the grey market. A kilo of the item sells for Rs 10 lakh.
