Assam: Third elephant injured in train hit dies

Another wild elephant, which was injured after being hit by the Rajdhani Express train in Assam's Jorhat district on Sunday night, succumbed to its injury on Wednesday.

A female elephant and her calf died soon after the mishap, but the third elephant was found lying inside a nearby jungle with severe injuries caused by the train hit.

Forest department personnel provided some treatment, but the animal died on Wednesday.

The incident took place at around 10.50 pm on Sunday, when the New Delhi-bound train hit the jumbos on a track near Mariani. Forest officials said the baby elephant was mowed down while the mother, aged about 21 years, died after being dashed by the train.

The place is a notified elephant corridor, and the North East Frontier Railway (NFR) said they had imposed a speed limit of 50 km/hr to prevent elephants' deaths. On Monday, NFR Chief Public Relations Officer, Sabyasachi De told DH that the loco pilot used the emergency brake and tried his best, but the train could not be stopped abruptly for the safety of the passengers. "Even at 50kmph speed, the loco pilot needs more than half a kilometre to stop the train."

NGO furious over train hit

Aaranyak, a biodiversity conservation group in Assam, on Wednesday, expressed grief and anguish over the incident and demanded steps, both short and long-term, to check the frequent death of elephants due to train hits.

"It is alarming that since January this year, eight elephants have been killed by trains, four alone in little over a month in Assam. The highest train-elephant hits occur in Kampur-Hojai-Diphu-Mariani, as per a recent study. Reports indicate that between 1990 and 2018, a total of 115 elephants died in Assam due to train hits. Assam, with an estimated wild elephant population of 5,719, accounts for substantial unnatural elephant mortality as a result of train hits, preceded only by electrocution," the NGO said in a statement.

"Linear infrastructure such as railway tracks often run through pristine wildlife habitats, which has consequently led to habitat fragmentation, posed barriers to wildlife movement and caused casualties due to collision. The threat of wildlife-train collision is magnified for a long-ranging species such as Asian elephants, which need expansive areas for their survival," it said.

Aaranyak urged the Indian Railways to look into the matter and act immediately to address the issue and curtail the elephant-train collision.