Approximately half of Bangladesh’s total Asian elephant population is found in three legally protected areas in the southeastern part of the country: Chunati and Fasiakhali wildlife sanctuaries and Medhkachapia National Park. Construction of an ADB-funded LTI project began in 2018 to build a new 103 km section of a railway, of which 27 km (or 26% of the total project alignment) cut through the protected areas (ADB, 2017b). This railway will ultimately be part of the Trans-Asia Railway Network to boost regional trade and will eventually extend to Myanmar and establish rail-freight connectivity among India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China. A comprehensive strategy is now being implemented to mitigate impacts in the three protected areas.

In Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary with several identified elephant corridors, three crossing structures are being constructed: one overpass measuring 50 meters wide and 70 meters long, and two underpasses. These will be accompanied by stout elephant fencing constructed from retired, welded train tracks to be erected along 1.9 km of the alignment to funnel animals to the passage structures and limit access to deep cut slope stretches to prevent collisions with trains. In the other two areas where the railway avoids core zone habitats and elephant corridors, fencing will be erected along cut-slope sections with at-grade (level) crossings to prevent collisions. A study is underway to develop train- and ground-based electronic elephant detection systems, which ideally will be placed at the termini of fencing with train signaling to slow approaching trains when elephants are nearby. Over 300 ha of habitat improvements like forage enhancement, water tank improvements and artificial salt licks are being implemented.