As our former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said many years ago. “A nation’s power ultimately lies in what it can do on its own, not in what it can borrow from others.”
In 2014, our current Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Make In India” campaign.
It is regarded as a watershed moment in the country’s history, owing to the escalation of new indigenous technological advances that have occurred since.
One such project which caught the public eye was the Anti-Collision System, KAVACH, launched and tested on March 4th, 2022, with our honorable Railway Minister, ‘Ashwini Vaishnaw’ on board.
What is Kavach?
Kavach is a combination of Radio Frequency Identification System (RFIDS), digital systems, and control system components put in train locomotives and signal systems.
The railway lines to navigate movements and inform the driver or take action based on the scenario and the logic.
Tracking the locomotive’s movements also gives access to activate the locomotive’s driver in the event that it jumps a signal, resulting in a mishap.
Trains may fully utilize this in foggy conditions when visibility is little to none.
It was tested on the South Central Railways between Lingampalli and Vikarabad parts of the Secunderabad Division on Friday morning and validated as a SIL-4, the highest level of security.
Progress of the Project
The system has been developed by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in collaboration with the Indian industry.
This project has progressed since 2012, through testing and failure of various methods, to the point. where it now meets SIL-4 standards, with a predicted error occurrence of once in 10,000 years.
Announced as a part of the 2022 Union Budget as a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat aimed to spread over 2000 km of track this year.
There is an existing technology launched by the European Union that would cost around 1–1.5 crore per km, with this system being the cheapest with an entire budget of 40–50 lakhs per km.
Future Plans
A system expansion and deployment strategy of 4,000 kilometers per year have been adopted.
The project will be carried out not only on Indian Railways but also sold to the rest of the world.
The Manmad-Parbandi-Nanded, Bidar-Parli Vaiinath-Parbani, and Secunderabad-Gadwal-Dhone-Guntakal parts of the South Central Track, which spans 1200 kilometers, are now being built.
It planned to expand the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah lines by about 3000 kilometers next year.
At present, the system uses Ultra High Frequency, which focuses the work on making it compatible with 4-G long-term technology.
In the next phase, it will also be able to recalibrate as per temporary speed restrictions en-route.
Conclusion
To make India Atmanirbhar, such kinds of projects have to be supported from the initial stage and also called for India.
Being a young country relies on these emerging minds who want speed and efficiency and may be able to construct such systems at a lower cost and faster than this project.
Many new schemes for grants for research or internships in industries are being promoted through schools and colleges to develop an innovation and research culture among students from the initial stages.
If this trend continues, India will soon be at the forefront of high-quality, sustainable, and dependable technology in every industry.
(PTI inputs)
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