- Why in news
- On 10-11 March 2026, MoEFCC's Project Elephant Division and the Wildlife Institute of India held a national workshop at Dehradun on cutting elephant deaths on railway tracks. It reported 77 priority stretches and 705 recommended mitigation structures.
- What it is
- Project Elephant is a centrally sponsored scheme of the MoEFCC, launched in 1992. It protects elephants, their habitats and corridors, and addresses human-elephant conflict. Elephant-train collisions are one major source of unnatural elephant deaths, and they are worst where rail lines cut through corridors.
- Workshop
- The Project Elephant Division and WII held a two-day national workshop at WII, Dehradun, on 10-11 March 2026.
- India's share of Asian elephants
- India has more than 60% of the global Asian elephant population.
- Priority stretches
- Of 127 stretches assessed (3,452.4 km), 77 stretches covering 1,965.2 km across 14 states were prioritised for mitigation.
- Mitigation package
- The package totals 705 structures, including 65 new underpasses and 22 overpasses.
- Technology
- A Distributed Acoustic System-based intrusion detection system was piloted in Assam under North East Frontier Railway. An AI early-warning system with 12 cameras runs at Madukkarai, Tamil Nadu.
- Legal status
- The Asian elephant is in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and is India's National Heritage Animal.
Don’t confuse with Project Elephant vs Project Tiger: Project Elephant (1992) covers elephants and their corridors. Project Tiger (1973) covers tiger reserves. Both are run by the MoEFCC.
Don’t confuse with Elephant reserve vs elephant corridor: An elephant reserve is a large landscape for elephants. A corridor is a narrow strip linking habitats, which is where rail lines often cause collisions.
Species and protected areas: 12 Prelims questions since 2013; they test legal status, location and the year of designation.
Why it matters
- Cuts avoidable elephant deaths and protects India's large share of Asian elephants.
- Joint planning by railways and forest departments sets a model for linear infrastructure in wildlife areas.
Problems
- Habitat fragmentation, high train speeds and night operations drive collisions.
- Coordination between the railway and forest departments is weak, and structures are costly to build across long stretches.
Way forward
- Adopt standardised protocols, early-warning systems and shared data across agencies.
- Build wildlife-friendly crossings into new rail projects at the planning stage.
Put in your answer
Priority stretches: 77 stretches over 1,965.2 km in 14 states were prioritised for mitigation.
Madukkarai AI system: Tower-mounted thermal cameras detect elephants within 100 metres of tracks and alert officials so trains can slow down.
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: Lasting conservation topic with numbers (77 stretches, 705 structures), but a workshop gives UPSC little to set a question on; species and places rarely reach Mains.
Source: PIB, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change., 12 Mar, 09:31 IST · Release 285694
Worth revising until Prelims 2027: most news questions come within two years of the event.