On the right track

More-than-human design
Design research
Systems design

Project Overview

Train-elephant collisions are one of the highest unnatural causes of death for elephants in India.

This project was to study, identify factors concerning elephant and train collisions across Assam, India and suggest mitigation measures to reduce the incidents.

Team

Tejaswini Nagesh
Project planning, design and execution

Supervisors and advisors:
Nitin Sekar
Hiten Baishya
Aritra Kshettry

Collaborators:
‍
Arjun Kamdar
Rangjalu Basumatary

Duration

November 2020 - December 2024
‍

Partners

WWF-India
Indian Railways
Forest Department of Assam, India

Context

More than 200 elephants were killed in train collisions over the last decade (in India), according to government data._{(NPR, May 2024)
‍}‍

Train collisions is the second-highest cause of unnatural elephant deaths, after accidental electrocution.

Project Goal

Minimize train-elephant collisions in Assam and foster the development of Indian Railways systems that prevent train-elephant collisions.

Process

@WWF-India

Phase 1

The initial phase involved exposure to the context. This was achieved through visits to key areas of concern, guided by the forest department and Indian Railways.

This project has been carried out in multiple phases over two years. First, we focused on understanding the context and studying the issues contributing to train-elephant collisions. Then, we explored various strategies to mitigate these collisions, all while maintaining constant collaboration with the forest department and Indian Railways to ensure that any developed interventions are feasible and effective.

‍

Phase 2

Phase 3

To develop data-driven site specific mitigation measures for the focus sections to help minimise train-elephant collisions.

This was done through an iterative process which involved developing on possible mitigation measures and getting it vetted or modifies by the experts in the systems like locopilots or forest department staff.

The project resulted in a decision-making tool that evaluates the risk level—high, medium, or low—of specific railway track sections. It also provides a set of mitigation measures tailored to address the factors influencing each section's risk level. For the key sections analyzed, detailed recommendations were provided on how to manage the factors contributing to the identified risks.