Gajraj System: Railways to install AI-based surveillance system to prevent elephant deaths on tracks. 5 points

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Indian Railways will be installing an AI-based surveillance system to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks. These surveillance system will be installed on 700 kilometres of route passing through forest areas. Announcing this, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday said, “We have identified forest areas in Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, Jharkhand and some parts of Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu which are home to elephants." The Minister also said that the technology, which was created by the railroads in association with a few start-ups, was implemented on a 150-kilometer section of Assam last year and has shown to be quite beneficial.

Asked if the railways has officially named the system, the minister said, "You can call it 'Gajraj System'." The minister, during his interaction with reporters, referred to the introduction of the system in the NFR. 1. As per Railway Minister, the AI-based surveillance system can alert loco pilots well in time about the presence of elephants on tracks.

2. The total cost of the project implementation on the 700-km tracks will be ₹181 crore. 3.

Vaishaw also mentioned that many elephants had been saved up to this point with the aid of this technology. "We made some improvements in the system based on our field experience and now it detects the presence of elephants on tracks with 99.5 per cent accuracy," he stated. Moreover, he also added that his officials are in touch with the forest departments to identify more such areas to expand the scope of the project.

4. Earlier in September 2023, the Northeast Frontier Railway had hailed the system and said its introduction in 11 elephant corridors in the Northeast helped eliminate elephant deaths due to train collisions. 5.