Northeast Frontier Railway bags PMI South Asia Award

Guwahati, September 5 (MExN): The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) had bagged the PMI (Project Management Institute) South Asia Award for Micro Project of the Year with its entry "Intrusion Detection System for Saving Elephant Lives". 

The NFR received the award in a ceremony held in Chennai on September 2, informed an official release. 

This is for the first time ever that any zonal railway under the Union Ministry of Railways has bagged this award since its inception in 2009, it said. 

Bharat Electronics Limited or BEL bagged the runners up award in 2023. 

In 2022, the micro project award was bagged by IBM and many reputed organisations participate in this prestigious annual award every year showcasing their innovations, the NFR maintained. 

The awarded is recognition for the project management community in the region, it added. 

As per the NFR, the Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is an eco-sustainable solution to protect elephants and improve mobility in train operations.

The IDS is based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and existing optical fibres are used as sensors to identify movements of wild animals at locations and alert control offices, station masters, gateman and loco pilots, it informed. 

The AI based software can monitor un-usual movements up to 40 km on either side of the main unit (i.e total stretch of 80 km). 
In addition, the IDS will also help in detecting rail fracture, trespassing on railway track and alert about disaster mitigation due to unauthorised digging near railway tracks, landslides near tracks etc.

After 100% success of the pilot project on IDS that was undertaken NFR in the Chalsa-Hasimara section of the Dooars area under Alipurduar Division in West Bengal and Lanka- Hawaipur section under Lumding Division in Assam, it has now been decided to install the system gradually in all other elephant corridors spread over the NFR, the release said. 

A sum of Rs 77 crore has already been received for the project, it added.