Elephant Calf Hit By Train Near Rourkela Shifted To Nandankanan For Treatment

Bhubaneswar: Elephant calf, which survived the train accident in Rourkela’s Bandhamunda area, was tranqualised and shifted to Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) in Odisha capital on Wednesday for treatment.

The critically injured calf was loaded onto a special truck this morning and transported to Nandankanan.

While an elephant calf was killed after being hit by a goods train near Rourkela on Monday night, two others of the 26-member herd were injured while crossing the tracks on the Howrah-Mumbai main line near Rourkela at around 9.30 pm. Forest officials are making attempts to trace the other injured calf that strayed into a forest near Bondamunda, sources said.

The mishap in the Bisra range of the Rourkela forest division reportedly occurred due to a communication gap between the Forest Department and the South Eastern Railway (SER). The control room of the SER at Bondamunda was informed about the presence of the elephants and officials of the Rourkela division were also said to be present at the site, guiding the 26-member elephant herd to cross the tracks. While one train stopped on the spot to allow the herd to cross the track, the goods train that arrived on another track chugged ahead, leading to the mishap, Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF) P Ramaswamy told the media.

The Rourkela forest division has arrested an Assistant Loco Pilot (ALP) in the connection with the incident and launched a probe.