Saving Wildlife

The railway and forest ministries may finally work in tandem to save the elephant. Two months after the grisly death of seven pachyderms on the tracks near Binnaguri and with frequent accidents involving the national heritage animal, the Railway Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee has imposed a maximum train speed of 50kmph across certain stretches in north Bengal forests.

In a letter to the Budhadeb Bhattacharjee government, the railway minister has listed dos and don’ts for the four notified elephant corridors across Siliguri, Gulma, Sevok, Hasimara and Alipurduar junctions so that the state forest department officials could do their bit to protect the animal.

Stretches where the 50 kmph limit will be applicable are between Gulma and Sevok, Chalsa and Nagrakata, Madarihat and Hasimara and Hasimara and Kalchini. Drivers have been asked to blow the whistle continuously so as to alert elephants and help them move away from the rail tracks. “ For the notified elephant corridors, drivers have been issued permanent caution order to restrict speed to a maximum of 50 kmph, with constant whistling in the section, and to be extra vigilant.” The letter read.

The railways have asked forest officials to issue caution orders to train drivers when ever there is any information regarding the movement of elephants so that utmost care is taken while crossing that particular section. An official at Writers’ Buildings said, “ it’s good that the railways have  imposed restrictions on trains. Now, it will be easier for forest department officials to ensure the safety of elephants.”

While the chief minister, too, brought the matter of frequent jumbo deaths and injuries to the notice of Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh, the latter even visited the spot where seven elephants had died. A senior forest department official said.” We have been trying to bring the matter to the notice of the railways for a long time. We have also written letters with the request for limiting speed of trains in the area to 40kmph.”

Five elephants had died on the tracks near Banarhat on September 22, while two others succumbed to their injuries the next morning. Wildlife experts pointed out that since the herd had around 30 jumbos; a few more could have sustained injuries. The incident seemed to wake up the authorities even as the railways and the forest department often passed the buck on protection of elephants which frequently ran into trains speeding through forests.

Courtesy : TIMES OF INDIA