Anitha Jaishankar | KRISHNAGIRI 05th February 2013
Two elephants were killed and several others feared injured after a train on a broad gauge line ploughed into a herd of jumbos that were crossing the tracks near Hosur Industrial Town on Monday.
The incident sent shock waves among animal rights fraternity, especially since it brought back memories of a similar incident in 2003, when a herd of five was mowed down by a train hurtling down the track at top speed on the same stretch.
The frequency of such accidents also brought to the fore the deadlock between the Forest Department and the Railways with regard to the protection of animals from the trains plying on Hosur-Kelamangalam-Royakotta-Dharmapuri route.
In Monday’s incident, the herd of around 30 from the Udedurgam forest region was crossing the tracks near the Muthappan temple near Kelamangalam, when a passenger train bound for Bangalore from Dharmapuri ploughed into the jumbos.
A five-year old male jumbo was reportedly thrown 300 metres away in the impact, while another five-year-old female got caught under the train’s wheels and was dragged nearly 500 metres before the train was brought to a halt. Both the pachyderms were killed on the spot.
Meanwhile, the train also ploughed through the rest of the herd, sending the animals, many of them grievously injured, scurrying in all directions. The number of injured animals was yet to ascertained since many of them ran into the forests.
Upon getting the information, Dharmapuri conservator of forest Manjunath, district forest officer A K Ulaganathan, assistant conservator of forest Soundarajan, forest rangers Vinobaji, Sugumar, Palanisamy, Babu and Rabel Reddy rushed to the accident spot.
They were joined by a team of railway officials led by Bangalore division regional manager Anil Agarwal.
Recounting the possible chain of events, DFO Ulaganathan told Express that since the area was enveloped by thick mist early in the morning, the loco pilot could not properly see the tracks and hence, dashed against the crossing herd.
“Due to the frequent elephant movement in this area in recent months, we had already alerted the railways to operate trains at slower speeds. The particular train was running at 40km/hr when the accident took place,” the DFO added.
In the light of Monday’s incident, the Forest Department has demanded that the Railways operate trains at a speed of 20 km/hr while crossing the stretch, he said, adding that the Railways has agreed to maintain a speed limit of 30 km/hr.
“The Forest Department has been creating trenches stretching for 50 km, separating the forest region from the human habitats in the Udedurgam reserved forest region in order to prevent elephants from straying into the villages or crossing the tracks. The trench work would be completed by March,” he added.
Monday’s accident also threw out of gear rail traffic along the stretch, with several passenger and express trains between Bangalore and Ernakulam via Hosur, Dharmapuri and Salem being delayed for several hours.
Source: http://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article1450085.ece
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| One of the elephants that was run over by a train near Hosur on Monday | Express |
The incident sent shock waves among animal rights fraternity, especially since it brought back memories of a similar incident in 2003, when a herd of five was mowed down by a train hurtling down the track at top speed on the same stretch.
The frequency of such accidents also brought to the fore the deadlock between the Forest Department and the Railways with regard to the protection of animals from the trains plying on Hosur-Kelamangalam-Royakotta-Dharmapuri route.
In Monday’s incident, the herd of around 30 from the Udedurgam forest region was crossing the tracks near the Muthappan temple near Kelamangalam, when a passenger train bound for Bangalore from Dharmapuri ploughed into the jumbos.
A five-year old male jumbo was reportedly thrown 300 metres away in the impact, while another five-year-old female got caught under the train’s wheels and was dragged nearly 500 metres before the train was brought to a halt. Both the pachyderms were killed on the spot.
Meanwhile, the train also ploughed through the rest of the herd, sending the animals, many of them grievously injured, scurrying in all directions. The number of injured animals was yet to ascertained since many of them ran into the forests.
Upon getting the information, Dharmapuri conservator of forest Manjunath, district forest officer A K Ulaganathan, assistant conservator of forest Soundarajan, forest rangers Vinobaji, Sugumar, Palanisamy, Babu and Rabel Reddy rushed to the accident spot.
They were joined by a team of railway officials led by Bangalore division regional manager Anil Agarwal.
Recounting the possible chain of events, DFO Ulaganathan told Express that since the area was enveloped by thick mist early in the morning, the loco pilot could not properly see the tracks and hence, dashed against the crossing herd.
“Due to the frequent elephant movement in this area in recent months, we had already alerted the railways to operate trains at slower speeds. The particular train was running at 40km/hr when the accident took place,” the DFO added.
In the light of Monday’s incident, the Forest Department has demanded that the Railways operate trains at a speed of 20 km/hr while crossing the stretch, he said, adding that the Railways has agreed to maintain a speed limit of 30 km/hr.
“The Forest Department has been creating trenches stretching for 50 km, separating the forest region from the human habitats in the Udedurgam reserved forest region in order to prevent elephants from straying into the villages or crossing the tracks. The trench work would be completed by March,” he added.
Monday’s accident also threw out of gear rail traffic along the stretch, with several passenger and express trains between Bangalore and Ernakulam via Hosur, Dharmapuri and Salem being delayed for several hours.
Source: http://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article1450085.ece
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