Jumbo Deaths On Tracks: The Buzz About Plan ‘Bee’

Bhubaneswar: Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal recently tweeted a video speaking about a new Plan ‘Bee’ to bring down Elephant deaths on railway tracks.

As per the plan, speakers amplifying the buzzing sound of the bee will be installed near the railway tracks. Since elephants do not like the sound, they will keep away from the tracks whenever a train passes.

On April 16 this year, four elephants were mowed down by Howrah-Mumbai Mail in Jharsuguda district between 3.30 am and 4.30 am. In December 2012, five elephants had met a similar fate after being crushed by Chennai-bound Coromandel Express in Ganjam district.

Secretary, Wildlife Society of Orissa, Biswajit Mohanty said that since 2012, around 15 Elephants were killed in such mishaps.

“I am not sure about the duration of the sound but if they plan to keep it buzzing day and night, it will be troublesome for these pachyderms. This is so because Elephants have corridors, on which these railway tracks have been made and they need to cross it otherwise their mobility will be restricted to a smaller area,” he said.

Of the 88 identified elephant corridors, tracks have been laid on 21 while many others have National Highway or both. Corridors are pathways of elephants marked by similar vegetation and help them in remembering the route.

According to reports on Odisha by the conservation organization Wildlife Trust of India, the lush stretches of elephant habitats across Kuldiha and Hadgarh Wildlife sanctuaries, and Simlipal National Park are now fragmented by mines, rail lines and human settlements. The route in Jharsuguda within the Bamra forest division from where the four elephants were coming, is particularly affected by mining.

During interrogation and probe into the matter, railway employees who were sought after for enquiry informed that there was no specific advisory by the Forest Department apart from a generic cautionary note in November. However, the Railway officials said that various steps were taken to ensure safe passage for elephants, which included a 39km/hour speed limit, signages announcing corridors, sensitisation drives for drivers, underpasses and ramps for elephants, and fencing at particularly vulnerable locations.

Mohanty too said underpasses or overpasses could have been “a better and safer option”. He said it is wrong on the government’s part to force the jumbos to change their way or not cross the tracks. “They will still find their route and this is not a permanent solution to it,” he added.

The Manasollasa, a 12th century Sanskrit text attributed to the Western Chalukya king Someshvara III, says that it is the sovereign’s duty to protect the forests where elephants thrive because only densest and richest of woods can support the large, long-ranging Elephas maximus.

A report by The Environment Ministry’s Elephant Task Force estimated the jumbo death toll on the tracks to be more than a hundred during 2001-10. The frequency and number of train kills have only upsurged. Across India, average annual casualties increased from nine during 2000-09 to 17 over the next seven years.