Jalpaiguri, Dec. 1 -- The death of two elephants after being hit by a freight train at Kholai Gram in Dhupguri has raised serious concerns within the Jalpaiguri Forest department and the Gorumara Wildlife Division. At the time of the incident, a group of five maljurian elephants - a wandering herd made up entirely of males - was near the railway track.
Following the accident, the Gorumara Wildlife Division has begun investigating whether an old or secondary elephant corridor might have existed along this route in the past. If evidence supports this, the Forest department will recommend that train speeds be regulated on this stretch as well.
Dwija Pratim Sen, DFO of the Gorumara Wildlife Division, said: "Officials are examining whether elephants have been using this route from time to time, as accidents have occurred here before."
Around 4:02 a.m. on Sunday, a freight train travelling from Alipurduar to New Jalpaiguri hit the herd between pillars 73/7 and 73/8, killing two elephants instantly.
Forest officials also received information about a third injured elephant and launched a search operation. The injured tusker was later found in the forest between Binnaguri and Moraghat by teams from the Binnaguri Wildlife Squad and the Jalpaiguri Forest Division. "Upon close inspection, we found the tusker had only minor injuries. It is now under strict surveillance inside the forest," Sen said.
Officials said the Kholai Gram stretch is not part of any recognised elephant corridor, and therefore, no speed restrictions were enforced for trains. "Even then, the presence of five elephants on the tracks should have been noticed by the locomotive driver," said Bikas V., DFO of the Jalpaiguri Forest Division.
Sen added that the five male elephants had likely wandered from the forest areas of Cooch Behar and lost their way. The department is now collecting data on how often elephants may have used this route in the past decade.
"If evidence of a light corridor emerges, we will propose speed restrictions at specific points along this route," he said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.