The buzz that scares elephants away!

Elephants don't like bees, but now bees are saving pachyderms as the Railway's initiative of "Plan Bee" succeeded in limiting the death of wild elephants crossing tracks in Assam.

To prevent the death of elephants crossing railway tracks, Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) had adopted "Plan Bee" last year in several stretches in Guwahati.

Under the drive, a device is installed near railways tracks. When trains passed on the tracks, the device amplifies the buzz of swarming honeybees. As elephants are afraid of bees, they stay away from railway tracks.

The sound from the device is audible from a distance of 600 meters and even if an elephant is present within that distance, it can run away on hearing the buzzing. The cost of the device is just Rs 2000.

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday shared a video on his Twitter handle, which showed that the device amplifies the buzz of swarming honeybees.

40 jumbos lost

Last year, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain informed Lok Sabha that 35 elephants were killed on railway tracks during 2014 to 2016 and five elephants were killed till July 2017.

The minister also claimed number of measures had been taken by Railways in coordination with the Ministry of Environment and Forest to prevent the death of wild animals on railway tracks.

To prevent elephants from being hit, the railways also imposed speed restriction of 30 kmph to 50 kmph on several stretches of railway tracks in North Eastern states.