Three elephants were killed and one was seriously injured this evening when a speeding train hit them at Rajabhatkhaoa in Jalpaiguri district.
Forest officials said three full grown elephants died on the spot in Buxa reserve forest area when the Guwahati-Jhanjha Express rammed into them at about 6.30 pm, while another jumbo lay critically injured.
The oncoming train hit an elephant herd which was crossing the railway tracks, officials said.
The herd comprised upto 16 pachyderms and some more jumbos could either be injured or moved fast on seeing the approaching train, but the number was not exactly known due to darkness.
The railways dispatched a special train to take the passengers of the express, which lay stranded, to their respective destinations, NFR sources said.
A relief van was also sent to clear the tracks of the dead elephants.
Locals agitated at the spot alleging that the motorman of the train could have averted the mishap had he slowed down on seeing the herd crossing.
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Have 3-4 kids, church tells families
ABHISH K. BOSE
KOTTAYAM, Jan. 5
Throwing to wind a recommendation of the government-appointed V.R. Krishna Iyer panel to limit family size to two by every couple, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in a recent pastoral letter has asked its faithful to have at least three to four children in every family to stem its declining population.
The letter was signed by Changanacherry Arch-bishop Mar Joseph Perunthottam and was circulated within the churches of the archdiocese.
The archbishop also laid out some of the reasons for the decline in the population. These include refusal to get married, late marriage, high rate of migration and death of people before the age of marriage. Many families are becoming extinct with no children, the communication says.
The letter is titled as (kudumbangalkku snehapoorvam) “With love to the families”.
The part of the letter subtitled as “the future of our society” says that the membership of the community is becoming less in the state.
“Recent population studies says that our community will gradually diminish and disappear if this situation continues. While taking into account these alarms we should at least have three children in each of our families, and four should be their if we want to increase the numbers”, the letter says.