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Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) was awarded the best innovation prize by Indian Railways for the 2018-19 fiscal.
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The prize was awarded for Plan Bee.
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About Plan Bee(1) It is an amplifying system imitating the buzz of a swarm of honey bees to keep wild elephants away from railway tracks.(2) A device was subsequently designed to generate the amplified sound of honey bees audible from 700-800 metres.(3) Team tested the honey bee buzz on a domestic elephant in north-eastern Assam’s Rangapara.(4) The second test at a tea estate under Rangiya Division proved successful on a herd of wild elephants.
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There are 29 earmarked elephant corridors with the operating zone of NFR spread across the north-eastern states and parts of Bihar and West Bengal.
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Trains are required to slow down at these corridors and adhere to speed specified on signs.
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Elephants have ventured into the path of trains even in non-corridor areas, often leading to accidents resulting in elephant deaths.
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As many as 67 elephants deaths have occurred between 2013 to June 2019, Most of these cases were reported from Assam and northern West Bengal.
Source
The Hindu