Bhubaneswar: The East Coast Railway( (ECoR) has taken the death of an elephant in the Angul-Sambalpur Railway Section April 6 very seriously and is monitoring the incident at the top level of management.
ECoR source here Monday said on the night of April 6 a tragic incident occurred in the Angul-Sambalpur Railway Section, where an elephant lost its life due to a train accident. The incident took place in between Boinda and Jarapada Stations.
Some media outlets have reported that the incident occurred due to a lack of coordination between the Railway and the Forest Department.
ECoR clarified that there are Wildlife Control Cells functioning at the Divisional Headquarters at Sambalpur and Khurda Road Railway Division providing information regarding the movement of elephants to the Divisional Controls so that the movement of wildlife will be safe on Railway tracks.
This coordination leads to the railways running the trains at a lower speed and blowing horns while moving on a particular stretch of track to avoid wildlife and train conflict, said the ECoR source.
In this particular incident, the Wildlife Control Cell manned by Forest Department at Sambalpur Railway Division gave a Memo to the Divisional Control Office on restriction of Train Movement at 6.30 PM April 6 last, added the source.
Restricting the speed Limit of 50 Kmph from Kms 125/00 to Kms 131/00 from both sides between Boinda and Jarapada Stations from 06.30 PM of April 6 to 06.30 AM of April 7. Upon receiving this information, the Railways took the necessary steps, and the instructions were clearly communicated to the loco pilot, who followed the orders provided to him through a caution order, said the ECoR source.
However, the unfortunate incident occurred beyond the above-mentioned area, specifically at KMs 131/23-25, which is beyond the elephant passing zone, as per the memo of the Forest Department, added the source.
The incident occurred at 2121hrs while 20832 Sambalpur-Shalimar Mahima Gosain Express was approaching Jarapada Railway Station from Boinda in Sambalpur-Angul Railway Section, with all precautions taken by maintaining the above-mentioned speed limit, blowing horns, and following all caution orders, the ECoR source informed.
After the incident, the loco-pilot checked the spot and proceeded to Jarapada Station and reported the incident to the Station authorities. A team of the forest and Wildlife Department visited the spot to remove the elephant body from the Railway Track April 7, added the source.
The Railway officials also cooperated with the Forest Department for removal of the elephant body from the train line. The ECoR sources said there was no casualty or injury to any passenger and all the passengers were safe.
Swift and appropriate action had been taken by East Coast Railway on receipt of the information regarding Elephant Movement, the source added.
The ECoR, the statement said, has already been following elephant caution orders, where the speed of trains is restricted for the safe movement of elephants on the track, at the cost of punctuality of the trains.
Elephant caution orders exist at many places in ECoR jurisdiction, like near Rambha & Huma in Khurda Road-Brahmapur Railway Section, Niraj-Raj Athgarh Section, Rajathgarh-Angul-Sambalpur Railway Sections apart from other places in ECoR jurisdiction where Railway is coordinating with Forest Department for saving wildlife, the statement said.
UNI