RailEnquiry

Expressing concern over the death of five elephants caused by the speeding Coromandal Express near Subalaya in Ganjam on December 29 last year, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged Union Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan to ask the Railways to impose speed restriction on trains while passing through the national parks, sanctuaries, elephant reserves and major elephant crossing points across the State.
In his letter to Natarajan on Wednesday, Patnaik said the tragic death of the five wild elephants in the train accident could have been averted had the speed of the train been reduced by the Railways. Patnaik, giving details of the incident, pointed out that the spot of the accident was an identified zone of frequent crossing of railway track by wild elephants, which had been earlier intimated by the State Forest Department to the Railways. “The accident occurred due to high speed of the train in spite of cautionary signboard 'Elephant Crossing Zone' erected by the side of the track,” he said, adding that the train had infact crossed the third signboard by the time the accident took place with the driver taking no notice of it.

Conveying the State Government’s effort to contain the tragic incident, Patnaik said the  Chairman of the Railway Board had already been requested with a copy to the Additional Director General (Wildlife), Minsitery of Environment and Forests on January 4 to impose restriction in the speed of the train in the major elephant crossing points in the State. Besides, Patnaik requested Natarajan to ensure that the Railway Board should revisit the advisory and instruction relating to the prevention of train accidents involving the elephants and make appropriate amendments in consultation with the Chief Wildlife Warden and other wildlife experts to prevent recurrence of such incidents.