Abdul
Gani
Guwahati:
A speeding inter-city train going to Tinsukia killed a 7year-old elephant at
Kurkuria under Sonapur range in Kamrup district on Wednesday night. The female
elephant, which was separated from its herd, after being hit was dragged along
the track for quite a distance. Forest officials said that the post-mortem of
the elephant was conducted on Thursday.
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| The killed elephant. pic: UB photos |
Elephant accidents like this have of late become a
regular affair in the state. Trains account for 37 per cent of elephant deaths
in the country. With this killing, the total death toll of elephants due to
collision with speeding train has increased to four s o far this year.
Last month, an elephant was killed by a speeding
train at Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Jorhat district. Two more elephants were
knocked down to death in Karbi Anglong area in February and June respectively.
Another elephant was injured by a moving train at Deepor Beel area in May this
year. Elephants continue to come under the trains at various locations in spite
of marking the areas as danger zones.
The three major danger zones are Deepor Beel,
Daldali Reserve Area of Karbi Anglong and Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary.
Wildlife activists allege that due to lack of cooperation from the railway
department such accidents take place. “On an average, 8 to 10 elephants die
each year in train accidents. And the same number of elephants die when poachers
of people hunt or poison them,” said MK Gogoi, the founder director of Friends
of Nature, an NGO.
He also said that on several occasions the incidents
go unrecorded as the injured elephants simply vanish into the jungle after
being hit by a train. “They later die and thus it is recorded as natural
death,” he added. In most of the cases, it is the female and calves who become
the victims.
According to rule, a train has to lower its speed to
30 kilometre or lesser in the elephant corridors. “The railway rule book says
that a train can be stopped even at the speed of 45 kilometre per hour on
certain conditions. But train drivers never obey such rules and regulations and
continue hitting the elephants,” he said.
The elephants follow the same route according to
their behaviour and if they are barred or if they find resistance they tend to
go wayward and disturb the neighbouring areas.
In Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, three elephants
have lost their lives in the past nine months. Seven elephants were killed by a
speeding train in a single accident in Bogapani area in 2007.
In Dibru-Saikhowa at least five elephants were
killed in the past five years. “In the past five years, more than 35 elephants
have been killed by the poachers or villagers. Villagers often poison them to
get rid of their menace,” he added.
He also said that on several occasions the forest
department hide such cases and instead show them as cases of natural death. The
elephant census this year recorded a total of 5,620 elephants in Assam compared
to 5,246 elephants in the 2009 census. In 2008 the elephant population was
pegged at 5, 281. (Seven Sisters Post)
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