Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal conceded that the Indian Railways has mowed down 49 elephants on railway tracks since 2010. Five of the casualties took place in January 2013, the minister said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
What is shocking is that these elephants were killed in the Siliguri-Alipurduar section where seven elephants had been killed in 2010. Over 150 elephants have been killed in this way since 1987.
Mr Bansal assured the house, “Elephant corridors had been identified by the forest department on such corridors and speed restrictions had been imposed as also signage boards provided to pre-warn the train drivers.”
Elephant activist Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of Wildlife Society of India, places the blame squarely on the shoulders of the railways. “Over eighty per cent of the fault lies with the railways because we have tried to sensitise railway dirvers and place signboards along elephant corridors but they have refused to heed us,” said Mr Mohanty.
“It is only because of the international campaign launched by Elephant Aid International which has bombarded the railways with over 1200 letters and because of pressure being placed on the railway ministry by the environment ministry that they have agreed to reduce train speeds in accident hotspots. Night patrols and other warning systems are on the anvil,’’ he said.
Belinda Wright, heading the Wildlife Protection Society of India, felt it was imperative for the railways to heed the advise of activists. “It is ridiculos that so many elephants are being killed and we are sitting idle.”
Mr Bansal said that the railways have issued advisories to their zonal offices to sensitise train crew and station masters on a regular basis. “In consultation with the environment ministry and the forest departments of state governments, the railways is also attempting to find a more lasting solution in the matter.”