Technology will now be employed to ensure the safety of elephants that are at risk of being killed by passing trains. In an affidavit issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the government has recommended the use of technology, especially electronic surveillance, to curb the number of elephant deaths due to collision with trains. Other measures such as reduction of speed of trains in areas frequented by elephants have also been suggested with a view to save more lives.
These measures were issued in an affidavit to the Supreme Court by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding the steps taken by the government to protect elephants being killed by collisions with trains.
The Ministry informed the apex court that site-specific solutions that were required across the 16 states of India with elephant population would be adopted instead of having the same set of measures throughout the country.
The Supreme Court directed the EnvironmentMinistry to act in coordination with the RailwayMinistry, especially in the states of West Bengal and Odisha, where incidents of elephant deaths due to speeding trains has been frequent.