An elephantine problem

Sustained efforts are needed prevent elephant-train collision on 18 km stretch, which passes through Rajaji National Park

P.S. Chauhan

A recent judgement of Dehradun district court awarding three years imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs. 10,000 to a train driver accused of killing three elephants has once again brought to the fore the issue of protecting the "national heritage animal" from being mowed down by the speeding trains. The train driver, Vijay Pal has been found guilty of killing a female elephant and two calves at Kansarao, near Haridwar, on September 28, 1998.

Indeed one of the main threats to the pachyderms in the world famous elephant project of Rajaji National Park emanates from their collision with the trains running on the 18 km. track passing through this park. Nearly two dozen trains run on the track every day. As per records of the forest department, the railway track has been the graveyard of as many as 22 jumbos since the creation of the park in 1983. The number of the jumbos which sustained injuries is still higher. In a major accident four elephants were run over by a killer train on April 2, 1992. However, there has been some respite in the killing spree of the trains after the creation of the state. The last accidental casualty on the track was reported on March 12, 2002 when an elephant calf was crushed to death by a train. However, one elephant sustained injuries at Haridwar-Kharkhari range as Doon Express hit him in April 2007.

Ritesh Joshi, the chief investigator of the central government sponsored Asian Elephants Behaviour Project in the Rajaji National Park says that two important facts stand out clearly in the accidental deaths of the tuskers in the Rajaji Park. First, most of these accidents have occurred during summer when due to scarcity of water in the park, the jumbos move from the western part to the eastern towards the Ganga in search of water and in the process cross the railway track. Secondly, it is mostly during night, when the elephants get mesmerized by the dazzling lights of the trains. Due to anthropogenic activities in these areas, with human interference in this forest route much more during the day, elephants avoid moving during the daytime and venture out mostly during night. Wildlife experts point out that elephants are highly social animals, mostly guided by herd instincts. In most of the accidents with trains a female elephant with her calf is involved. Even if other elephants have crossed the railway track but the calf is left behind, the female elephant turns back and gets hit by the train. Whenever an elephant gets killed on the track, the fellow elephants gather on the spot and conduct 'rail roko', throwing the railway traffic out of gear. On September 28, 1998 when three pachyderms were crushed to death, a huge herd of these mammals gathered on the spot, disrupting the entire schedule of the trains for many hours and the railways and the forest personnel had a tough time in clearing the track by driving away the mourning and infuriated jumbos.

After many jumbo casualties the government realized the gravity of the situation. The forest department, working in tandem with the railways, has now initiated a slew of measures to avert trains-elephants collisions. The station superintendent of Haridwar railway station, Samrendra Goswami says that the railway department has issued permanent "caution orders" to the train drivers to limit the speed of the trains below 50 km. per hour, with constant whistling, on the sensitive sections in Haridwar, Motichoor, Kansrao ranges so as to alert elephants and help them move away from the railway track. The joint teams of the forest department and the Wild Life Trust of India (WTI) have been set up for patrolling, from dusk to dawn, in the sections which are vulnerable to trains-elephants collisions.