To Prevent Elephant Deaths In Accidents, Odisha Tests Siren System

Bhubaneswar: Cases of elephants killed by speeding trucks on national highways and trains on rail tracks continue to rise in Odisha. In an experiment to prevent such accidents, the state Forest Department is testing a sensor-based siren system, which, if it detects elephant herds crossing highways, would go off automatically.

“We have started it as a pilot project in association with an NGO. The system has been installed at two places, at Ratasingha and Haldihabahal,” Dhenkanal Divisional Forest Officer Prakash Chand Gogineni told The Hindu.

“We have found the system to be effective. However, we will carry out overall assessment. We will evaluate how the system is responding to elephant herds and single elephant during crossing of roads,” he told the paper.

According to NGO Wildlife Society of Odisha, 423 elephants have died in the state since 2017-2018.