Keonjhar: The three elephants, which died after being hit by a goods train while crossing the tracks near Bansapani under Joda forest section of Champua range in Odisha’s Keonjhar district on Thursday night, were not the first to be killed by trains on this stretch.
The elephants, a female and two calves, were part of a herd of 22 crossing the rail tracks when they were hit by a goods train between 7 pm and 7.15 pm on Thursday.
Who is responsible for the deaths?
The Forest Department has issued showcause notices to the Chakradharpur DRM and Champua Ranger following the incident. The area is known for the movement of elephants. But it appears that despite frequent incidents of elephants being crushed by trains, both the Forest Department and the railways are not doing enough to protect them.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Shashi Paul, who was at the spot to probe the incident, told mediapersons that every available data about elephants, their location and movement is provided to the railways in advance. On Thursday night’s incident, he said that the elephant herd appears to have taken an unusual route that day. The railways too had issued instructions for trains to slow down and blow long whistles while crossing the stretch.
Asked if the train that hit the elephants was speeding, Paul said that they were waiting for the report from the railways. He added that the speed of trains passing through the stretch will be probed.
Paul, however, said that with the number of trains increasing, there was a need to take long-term steps. “We need to shift from human-dependent methods to hi-tech, automatic systems in future to ensure such accidents do not happen. One way could be fitting engines with sensors to alert drivers about the presence of elephants,” he said.
Keonjhar DFO Dhanraj HD, who too was at the spot to probe the incident, said it was unfortunate that the elephants came in front of the train despite preventive measures having been taken. He agreed that more needs to be done to prevent such incidents.
Prakash Mohanty, a senior journalist from Joda, said that six elephants have died on the stretch in the past and the Forest Department and the railways remain indifferent. According to him, the Forest Department can fit GPS to the male elephants in a herd to track their movement and alert the railways.
Mohanty said that despite the movement of elephants in the area and 20-30 goods trains passing the forest stretch daily, there was no coordination between the Forest Department and the railways. He claimed that all sources of water had dried up inside the forest, forcing elephants to cross the tracks in search of water.
