GUWAHATI: Six jumbos including an unborn were mowed down by a running train in Assam's Sonitpur district on Sunday wee hours. This is the highest elephant casualty due to train-hit in a single day in a decade.
The Guwahati-Naharlagun Express train knocked the jumbos at Bamgaon, 10 to 15 KM away from the demarcated elephant corridor, around 2.20 AM.
Forest and railway officials said that the spot were elephants were hit by the train was not usually frequented by jumbos, and hence the area was out of joint patrolling by staff of both the departments.
A herd of 30 elephants crossed the railway tracks by breaking down a barrier at the level-crossing on the spot.
Conservator of forest for northern Assam circle, P Sivkumar said that after the Sunday's incident forest department has taken up with the railway for joint patrolling along the entire 150 KM stretch of the tracks in the area.
"The way the Sunday mishap happened, it has become necessary for joint patrolling from Gohpur to Panchnoi, covering a distance of about 150 KM. The place where elephants were killed was not known for such casualty as jumbos hardly come to that spot," Sivkumar said.
North East Frontier Railway (NFR)'s chief public relations officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said speed restriction of 30 KM per hour will be maintained by trains passing through Sunday's casualty spot.
"As the collision happened in a non-notified area, there was no information sharing about movement of elephants near the tracks. Elsewhere, in notified areas we could avert many such collision in recent time through prompt sharing of information between railway and forest staff," Sharma said.
Experts said the place where elephant casualty took place, about 220 KM from here, is an outcome of unabated forest destruction in Sonitpur district on the northern banks of Brahmaputra. It is estimated that almost 70% of 1334-odd square kilometer of forest area in the district has been encroached. Habitat destruction is one of the reasons why elephants are frequently changing their normally used corridors in search of food, as it happened in Bamgaon.
"The killing of six elephants is symptomatic of a bigger problem in Sonitpur. The pace at which elephant habitats are vanishing in the district, such mishaps are bound to happen," WWF-India's elephant conservation coordinator, Hiten Baishya said.
Last time elephants killed by train-hit were in last month when two jumbos were knocked on the tracks at Thakurkuchi in the outskirt of Guwahati.
In 2016 at least seven elephants died due to collision with trains in different parts of the state. Most of the jumbo casualties were outside the identified vulnerable locations where elephants normally cross the railway tracks. End
The Guwahati-Naharlagun Express train knocked the jumbos at Bamgaon, 10 to 15 KM away from the demarcated elephant corridor, around 2.20 AM.
Forest and railway officials said that the spot were elephants were hit by the train was not usually frequented by jumbos, and hence the area was out of joint patrolling by staff of both the departments.
A herd of 30 elephants crossed the railway tracks by breaking down a barrier at the level-crossing on the spot.
Conservator of forest for northern Assam circle, P Sivkumar said that after the Sunday's incident forest department has taken up with the railway for joint patrolling along the entire 150 KM stretch of the tracks in the area.
"The way the Sunday mishap happened, it has become necessary for joint patrolling from Gohpur to Panchnoi, covering a distance of about 150 KM. The place where elephants were killed was not known for such casualty as jumbos hardly come to that spot," Sivkumar said.
North East Frontier Railway (NFR)'s chief public relations officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said speed restriction of 30 KM per hour will be maintained by trains passing through Sunday's casualty spot.
"As the collision happened in a non-notified area, there was no information sharing about movement of elephants near the tracks. Elsewhere, in notified areas we could avert many such collision in recent time through prompt sharing of information between railway and forest staff," Sharma said.
Experts said the place where elephant casualty took place, about 220 KM from here, is an outcome of unabated forest destruction in Sonitpur district on the northern banks of Brahmaputra. It is estimated that almost 70% of 1334-odd square kilometer of forest area in the district has been encroached. Habitat destruction is one of the reasons why elephants are frequently changing their normally used corridors in search of food, as it happened in Bamgaon.
"The killing of six elephants is symptomatic of a bigger problem in Sonitpur. The pace at which elephant habitats are vanishing in the district, such mishaps are bound to happen," WWF-India's elephant conservation coordinator, Hiten Baishya said.
Last time elephants killed by train-hit were in last month when two jumbos were knocked on the tracks at Thakurkuchi in the outskirt of Guwahati.
In 2016 at least seven elephants died due to collision with trains in different parts of the state. Most of the jumbo casualties were outside the identified vulnerable locations where elephants normally cross the railway tracks. End
Get latest news & live updates on the go on your pc with News App. Download The Times of India news app for your device.
