The railway board has sanctioned Rs 78 crore for the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to put in place a mechanical system that will help avert collisions between trains and wild animals, including elephants, which cross tracks.

The Intrusion Detection System (IDS) will be introduced in different locations spread across five divisions of the NFR. Altogether, there are 200 kilometres of such tracks which elephants and other animals cross in the NFR.

One such stretch is the 140km-long tracks between Sevoke and Alipurduar Junction, which pass through a number of wildlife habitats. Since the stretch was converted into a broad gauge from a meter gauge in 2002, nearly 70 elephants were run over by trains. Wild animals are mowed down along several stretches of tracks in the Tinsukia and Lumding railway divisions of the neighbouring Assam as well.

“The IDS was installed along some of such stretches on an experimental basis. It was found that the system could help reduce the deaths of elephants and other animals on the tracks. The reports were placed before the Railway Board that has finally sanctioned the sum to introduce the system along all stretches in the NFR which are vulnerable to collisions between trains and wild animals,” said a source in the NFR.

So far, the Bengal forest department and people living adjacent to the tracks have informed the railways about the animals seen near the route. Besides, there were restrictions on trains’ speed in some areas.

“Once the IDS is introduced, there will be a mechanism to send an alert through the optical fibre to the railway control room if any animal’s movement is noticed near the tracks. Also, information like the number of animals and their distance from the tracks will be available through the system. The loco pilot of any train moving through the area can be easily and early intimated about the animals,” the source added.