Keonjhar: The death of two elephants on a railway track in Keonjhar district has again reminded us of the threat posed by the tracks to the life of the pachyderms, a report said Wednesday. The mineral-rich district has become increasingly unsafe for the pachyderms as well as other wild animals with railway tracks claiming their lives in frequent intervals. As elephants continue to die, the Jakhpura-Banshapani railway track passing through Keonjhar district has turned into a death trap for the pachyderms. Reports said as many as 11 elephants have died since 2012 in the last 11 years in separate train accidents on the JakhapuraBanshapani railway track.
However, no permanent step has been taken to avert mishaps on the railway track and keep the elephants safe. Three elephants including two female jumbos had died after being hit by a train on the track in Banshapani of Joda block May 19, 2022. Later, a female elephant died on the railway track near Ramachandrapur village under Sadar block, November 22, 2018. Another female elephant died in a train accident near Nilakantheshwar under Ghatagaon block, March 22, 2013. Four jumbos including two female elephants and a calf had died after being hit by a goods train near Bandhubeda village under Joda block, August 15, 2012.
In the latest mishap, two elephants died after being hit by a goods train near Brahamanipal under Anandapur forest division in the wee hours of Tuesday. The Forest and Railways authorities are conducting meetings at regular intervals and forming policies to avert mishaps on the track. However, death of the elephants is on the rise due to increasing mishaps on the railway track. The Forest department has formed elephant squads to track the movement of the animals. Senior forest officials like forest rangers and DFOs are monitoring these squads. The squad members track the presence and movement of elephants in a particular area and send messages to avert any mishap or man-animal conflict.
As a result, forest officials working in various ranges get to know about the presence of elephant herds. People are alerted in advance if the herd is moving toward human habitat. The rail authorities are also alerted if the herd is on the move toward the railway track. On getting the information, the railway authorities immediately alert the loco pilots. Accordingly, they control the speed of the train and cautiously move on the track by blowing horns at frequent intervals. Similarly, the Forest Department has identified elephant corridors in various areas.
As most of the rail routes pass through forested areas, the forest officials identify elephant corridors and help the mammals cross the rail tracks safely. In several cases, trains are halted on the track if they happen to see elephants crossing the track. The jumbo herd often loses sight of their way and strays here and there due to lack of food in the forests, rampant mining, illegal parking on the roads and highways due to high-sounding horns, bright lights, and movement of vehicles on national highways, and railway tracks. They get agitated when people try to drive them away from one village to another village. They also become aggressive when they fail to find a safe habitat.