Indian Railways: The Great Killers of Their Own Mascot !

Though the elephants have been declared as the national heritage animal of India by the Ministry of environment and forests, little seems to have been done by the Indian Railways to preserve this heritage.

I write this with regard to the tragic event that occurred on the 23^rd of September in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, where a goods train claimed the lives of seven Elephants. Is that how the Indian Railways respects its mascot species, the Asian elephant? The statistics reveal that over the past two decades, nearly 90% of the deaths (of the 110 train hit deaths) have been recorded from the states of Assam, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. Such inhumane insensitive acts involving utter disregard for other forms of life by the Indian railways don’t call for the Asian elephants to be their mascot!

A few mitigation measures such as driving cautiously, patrolling in crucial section, training and awareness generation for train drivers, improving visibility in blind turns, leveling of steep embankments, clearing vegetation in blind turns to clear visibility, blaring of horns in the wildlife zones, by the railways can help to save the wildlife. A very successful example is of the Rajaji National park, Uttarakhand (National Train Hits Project, a Wildlife Trust of India and International Fund for Animal Welfare joint venture), where elephant mortality was successfully prevented due to train accidents, by adopting similar strategies.

I have been to several national parks and Wildlife sanctuaries, and have had wonderful experiences with the jumbos (see future posts).

The animals we have lost will never be back, we can only hope and pray that the Ministry of Environment and Forests takes necessary initiatives with the proactive support of the Indian Railways, so that no such horrific death ever occurs in the future.