Safety measures for animals
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network

Guwahati, June 17 2012: After four years from now killings of animals by running trains in India may become a thing of the past.

On Sunday, Amruta Ubale who is India's representative of Animal Equality said in Guwahati that this is possible due to a technology developed by Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi which will be in operation in 2016.Animals mostly jumbos who are at risk of being run over by trains will be safe.

According to Amruta Ubale four-year timeframe set by two ministries to implement a wireless sensor device developed by Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Wild Animal Protection System is a device that works by detecting the presence of elephants and other animals on railway tracks and activating a signal to a station master for warning trains to slow down or stop.

The project to install this sensor device has been undertaken jointly by the ministries of Railway and Environment and Forests.

This is the outcome of a campaign by Animal Equality, a global animal rights organization, which advocated the use of foolproof technology to save animals from being run over.

Amruta said his organisation had asked for the installation of radar sensors in trains for detecting animals in front of the train and on tracks.

The organisation also had sought an auto-brake function that can be used to avoid any train accident.

The Animal Equality member then said sensor device is used by international car companies and is also used in some trains and ships.

Such devices have proved useful in avoiding collisions.

The pilot project of the sensor device specifically for wild animals is expected to be in place by 2016 .

A report of August 2010 of Elephant Task Force said that 150 elephants were killed in train collisions since 1987.Assam tops the list with 36% of the total jumbo casualties followed by West Bengal with 26% and Uttarakhand with 14%.Most of these hits occurred during a 12-hour span between 6pm and 6am.Banarhat area of West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district earned the dubious distinction of killing the most elephants - seven - in a single hit (2010).Five elephants died in the following year.

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