On The Right Track

Thick forests bank the Ganga as it flows into the plains; this is the Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand, northern India, home to a rich variety of wildlife.
Between 1987 and 2001, eighteen Asian elephants and other smaller animals, were killed in train-hit accidents along a railway line that cuts across Rajaji National Park. This rail line connects the holy city of Haridwar with the capital of this state, Dehradun, and is one of the busiest rail stretches in the region. Invasive as the rail track is for this ancient wilderness and all wildlife within it, it is equally a lifeline for thousands of people commuting on this stretch everyday. There is no other way the railway line can be routed. Humans cannot do without the transport connections and wild animals find it difficult to learn that the strange parallel tracks running through their habitat can suddenly bring on huge, speeding monster machines that run them over, again and again.
On the Right Track documents a project that looked at this problem closely and has found creative solutions to reduce the danger on these tracks. Undertaken by Wildlife Trust of India-IFAW, supported and meticulously implemented by the Uttarakhand Forest Department in collaboration with Northern Railways, the suggested solutions have ensured zero elephant deaths on this 14 km track since 2001. A heartening win that proves that a little bit of care can allow human technology and ancient natural living systems to coexist. The Rajaji example is now being replicated in other areas with similar problems.