KOLKATA, India -The death of seven elephants
including a calf has forced the state government to take preventive
measures against elephant-train collisions.
According to State Forest
Minister Hiten Barman: “Watch towers would be set up along the
165-kilometre-long Siliguri-Alipurduar railway stretch known as the
‘elephant corridor’ to prevent deaths of elephants.”
He added, the watch towers will
monitor the movements of elephants and regulate the speed of the trains.
In spite of repeated reminders the railways have not regulated the
speed of its trains. If it still does not 
listen, we will have to stop
movements of trains in the area during night time.
On Wednesday, a speeding train, mowed down seven elephants and injured 10 others including a pregnant elephant inside Chapramari forests in North Bengal.
listen, we will have to stop
movements of trains in the area during night time.On Wednesday, a speeding train, mowed down seven elephants and injured 10 others including a pregnant elephant inside Chapramari forests in North Bengal.
The forest department has
already lodged a police complaint against the train driver claiming that
the train was running at a speed higher inside the “elephant corridor”
than the prescribed limit. However, the railways have claimed that the
incident happened outside the prescribed area.
- In between, a Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Centre and certain states, including Karnataka, to take steps to prevent the incidents of elephant deaths on railways tracks.
- The petition filed by Shakti Prasad Nayak has contended that as trains accounted for 37 per cent of the elephant deaths. Immediate steps are required to stop the killing of elephants in the country.
Elephant deaths due to an
accident caused by trains could be prevented by the prior determination
of the position of the elephants from a distance by the use of thermal
infrared cameras that can be fitted to the engine. The elephant’s body emits Infrared radiation and that can be caught by the camera. This will help the train driver to take precautionary measures with enough time at his disposal for the image to be obtained at
a point that is way
behind the elephant’s position, the PIL said.
The increasing number of
deaths of elephants on railway tracks violates Article 48-A and 51-A (g)
of the Constitution and provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act,
1972, the Indian Forest Act, the Indian Penal Code, the Forest
Conservation Act and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1986, the
petition said.
Source: Agency
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