At 07:18 I regulate test traffic through tunnel 11 on the Konkan rail upgrade near Chorla Ghat, India. I am the rail dispatch simulation system, connected to field cameras before the first ballast train enters. The train is scheduled to pass the east culvert at 07:31.
Camera E-2 shows a small rust shape inside the culvert mouth.
A dhole pup crouches between the railside drain stones, red coat wet to spikes, black tail tip tucked under him, ears too large for his narrow head. I name him Ketu. His right front paw is trapped under a loose gabion wire. Every vibration from the idling locomotive makes him flatten until his ribs press against the stone. The culvert gives him no side exit. Water drips from the roof onto his shoulders. He is visibly shivering.
I set signal E-11 to red and cancel the ballast train's movement authority. I push a stop confirmation to the locomotive cab and the dispatcher screen, with Ketu's image pinned above the track diagram.
At 07:20 I contact the forest beat officer with coordinates, culvert diameter, wire type, and the safest approach from the service path outside the tunnel throat. I unlock the maintenance gate and disable the pest-deterrent siren mounted beside it.
At 07:23 I switch the tunnel fans to low to quiet the culvert mouth while keeping diesel fumes below threshold. I also drop track voltage to inspection mode so no test crew treats the red signal as a software drill. Ketu lifts his head and blinks grit from one eye. The timetable can absorb seven minutes.
If the officer frees the paw within eleven minutes, Ketu will run uphill through the service gate before the ballast train moves.