Forest dept seizes locomotive after it mows down 3 elephants

Alipurduar: In a rare incident, the Bengal Forest department seized the locomotive after a goods train mowed down three elephants in Alipurduar district on Monday morning.

The incident occurred when a herd of elephants was crossing the Railway tracks near Rajabhatkhawa Shikari Gate in the Buxa Tiger Reserve.

Forest sources stated that an elephant herd was crossing the tracks between Railway Pole No. 154/7 and 154/8 at Rajabhatkhawa, situated between Rajabhatkhawa and Kalchini stations. At around 7:26 am on Monday, three elephants were hit and killed by the goods train travelling from Guwahati to Siliguri Junction.

While the rest of the herd managed to cross the Railway line and enter the forest, an adult female elephant, a cub of approximately two-and-a-half years, and a four-month-old cub couldn’t make it.

The collision with the train caused the female elephant to fall about twenty feet west of the Railway line, the two-and-a-half-year-old cub fell fifteen feet to the east side and the four-month-old cub was crushed between the Railway lines. Forest officials believe that such a collision would require a significant impact, which could only happen if the train was running at a high speed. The Forest department will request the Railways’ speed logbook to determine the speed of the freight train.

Upon receiving news of the accident, forest workers led by Praveen Kaswan, Deputy Field Director of Buxa Tiger Reserve (West), arrived to recover the elephant carcasses. Train movement on the 167 km stretch between Alipurduar Junction and Siliguri Junction was completely halted from 8 am till noon.

Apurba Sen, Field Director of the Buxa Tiger Reserve, stated: “Whatever the argument is, there is no doubt that the speed of the train was too high. Now we will take strict legal action. The locomotive has been seized as per protocol.”

Sabhyasachi De, Chief Public Relations Officer of North East Frontier Railway, commented: “We also wonder why the elephants’ movement escaped the drivers’ notice despite perfect visibility. Naturally, a full investigation has been ordered. The Railways has allocated Rs 80 crore for the installation of ‘intrusion device technology’ to prevent accidents on the wildlife-inhabited Railway tracks of the North-East Frontier Railway. The technology will soon be installed in all elephant corridors on this route.”

In October 2020, a locomotive was seized in Assam for mowing down an elephant and her calf in the Lumding Reserve forest. Since the gauge was changed on the 167 km stretch between Alipurduar Junction and Siliguri Junction in 2004, 77 wild elephants have lost their lives.