Watch: AI Camera Saves Elephants From Major Train Accident In Odisha’s Rourkela Forest – News18

Last Updated:December 09, 2024, 6:06 PM IST

In the video, two adult elephants and a baby elephant are seen making their way to the railway tracks in the Sundargarh district’s Rourkela forest division.

An AI-powered camera recently helped prevent a potentially deadly train accident in the Rourkela forest division of Odisha’s Sundargarh district. The incident, which could have resulted in the death or serious injury of three elephants, was averted thanks to the swift response of both the railway and forest departments.

According to a post by retired Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda, the AI camera detected a calf and two adult elephants approaching the railway tracks and immediately alerted the Forest Department’s control room. As the camera tracked the movement of the elephants, it sent real-time location data and images to both the railways and forest control rooms. The railways moved quickly to allow the elephants to cross the track safely, postponing a cargo train’s departure by 30 minutes.

“AI camera captures and zooms into the elephants approaching the railway line, sending alerts to the control room for stopping the train. We had solutions. Happy to see that the ones implemented are now giving results. These four cameras along the track were part of mitigation measures,” retired Indian Forest Service officer Nanda wrote on X (formally Twitter).

“Funded by RSP out of its site-specific wildlife conservation plan, it was implemented on a pilot basis in Rourkela Forest Division. Keonjhar and Bonai Forest Divisions are in the pipeline to upscale this initiative. Win-win situation for all,” Nanda said in another tweet.

Shared on December 8, the video has garnered over 2,90,000 views. The video also attracted several reactions.

A user said, “Feels so good to see, apt use of tech. May be in future we can use this tech for locating poacher as well.”

Another commented, “Wonderful. We need this useful tech to be expanded to a lot more places.”

“Impressive use of technology! Great to see these measures yielding positive results,” a user on X wrote.

“Same type of cameras can be used across the open borders to timely inform the security forces,” another remarked.

In May, the Tamil Nadu forest department placed at least 12 towers, each with an AI camera, along two rail routes in Madukkarai to reduce fatal train accidents, according to BBC News.