To curb the rising menace of elephant deaths on its tracks due to ongoing trains, the Indian Railways has deployed an innovative method to move the elephants away from the railway tracks.
What is Plan Bee?
- The Indian Railways is planning to use speakers to play the sound of bees which will scare the elephants away.
- In the first phase, 50 speakers have been deployed in Assam which is home to over 20% of India’s elephants.
- The speakers do not play the sound continuously. Instead, the Indian Railways has identified vulnerable stretches. When a train is approaching these stretches, the speakers will start emitting the noise to scare away the elephants.
- This technology was earlier tested on domesticated elephants and has won much praise from international and national environmentalists and conservationists for it’s “natural” approach.
Why is it necessary?
Over 70 elephants were killed between the 2013 and June, 2019 by trains. Most of the incidents occurred mainly in Assam and West Bengal.
Man-Elephant Conflict in India
Due to the shrinking of natural habitats, the man-elephant conflicts are increasing significantly. As per the official data, over 2,300 people and 700 elephants have died due to the collision between the two species. The elephants have been mostly killed by electric fences, poisoned or shot by locals angry at family members being killed or crops being destroyed, and accidents on railway lines cutting through migratory routes.