Guwahati, Dec. 18: On account of rising death of elephants by moving trains, Assam government today decided to set up a joint coordination committee comprising the Forest Department and Railways to avoid such incidents in future.
Only the day before, three elephants were killed by a speeding train engine in Nagaon district, following which state Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma directed her department to file an FIR against the Railways.
“A joint coordination committee involving the Forest department and the Railways under the leadership of respective Sub-Divisional Officers and Circle Officers will be constituted for monitoring the joint activities of the Forest Department and Railways,” an official release said.
The committee will look after joint survey of railway tracks, cleaning of jungles, streamlining of slopes near tracks and installation of signage at vulnerable points with emergency contact number among others, it added.
The decision was taken at a meeting held today between Forest Department and North-east Frontier Railway, chaired by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
Expressing concern over high number of elephant deaths in accidents by speeding train in recent days in the state, Sonowal directed the Forest Department and NF Railway to improve communication and coordination to control such incidents.
He also directed the Forest and Railway officials to visit across all the vulnerable railway tracks immediately so that all future casualties can be stopped.
With a view to share real time information from the ground to Railway Control Room, the Chief Minister directed to immediately constitute local level Monitoring Committee involving the people living in adjoining areas of the track.
“The members of the committees will inform the Railway Control Room whenever movement of elephants is noticed so that same can be passed on to train drivers for controlling the speed.
The local level monitoring committees will be constituted in all the 29 elephant corridors falling within railway tracks,” the statement said.
For improved communication, the Railway Control Rooms will be manned by both Forest and Railway personnel, it added.
Underlining the need for a long-time strategy to stop all such incidents in future, Sonowal said the Forest department has to improve their communication network and adopt new technologies.
He instructed the department to implement Advance Warning System, solar lights with alarms at vulnerable railway tracks,use of remote sensor and GPS indicator insertion at leaders of elephant herds to locate their movement.
Sonowal also stressed on the need to study elephants’ behaviour in the area by the Forest department and construction of need-based overpass and underpass at railway tracks by the Railways.
Urging the Forest and Railway officials to be more sensitive to the well-being of animals, the Chief Minister directed to immediately conduct sensitisation meeting of train drivers (loco pilots) and higher officials of railways.
He informed that he had already discussed the issue of mowing down of elephants by trains with Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who assured him to extend all possible help in improving the situation.
During 2016, the number of elephant deaths on railway tracks has gone up alarmingly with the Forest Department putting the figure at 16 so far compared to only four such incidents in 2015.
In this month alone, 11 elephants have been killed by trains with seven in Nagaon district, while the rest in Karbi Anglong and Bongaigaon.
