Elephant crossing tracks killed in train hit in Angul

ANGUL: A 30-year-old tusker died after being hit by a train at Para in Angul district on Thursday night. The animal was crossing the tracks when it was hit by the weekly Sambalpur-Shalimar Mahima Gosain Express. The incident occurred 1 km from Jarapada railway station.
Forest authorities reached the spot and recovered the elephant carcass. A few trains were delayed for a short time due to the accident.
Divisional forest officer (Angul) Bibek Kumar said no other elephant was moving with the tusker. The autopsy of the tusker will be conducted on Friday, he added.
Man-elephant conflict has been one of the major concerns in Angul district for the past few years.
416 jumbo deaths in last five years
Though various steps have been taken to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks, Odisha has witnessed 17 elephant deaths after being hit by trains from 2017-18 to 2021-22, Union minister of state for environment, forest and climate change Ashwini Kumar Choubey had told the Lok Sabha last month.
The Odisha figures were the second highest number of deaths of pachyderms on railway tracks among states. The highest 27 jumbos died after being hit by trains in Assam. West Bengal recorded 13 deaths. Around 80 elephants died by train hits in the country during the past five years. During the past five years from 2017-18, Odisha has witnessed 416 elephant deaths due to various reasons. These include the highest 71 in Dhenkanal district followed by 49 in Angul, according to Choubey’s written reply in the Lok Sabha in response to a question by MPs Jai Prakash and Aparajita Sarangi.