An elephant was killed in a train- hit incident in the Sitapur area of Haridwar in Uttarakhand on Monday night, said forest officials.
The fatal accident occurred near the Jamalpur-Sitapur railway crossing, falling in the Haridwar Forest Division.
According to the forest officials, the movement of four elephants was spotted around midnight near the Sitapur railway track. As soon as the elephant herd movement was spotted, the forest patrolling team shooed them away from the railway track. But unfortunately, one of them retreated towards the railway track and got hit by a train.
“A male elephant died after being hit by Upasana Express train near Sitapur. Forest officials reached the spot and the railway track was cleared. Postmortem of the elephant is underway. Patrolling has been increased in the entire stretch,” said Haridwar divisional forest official Neeraj Sharma.
Gagan Matta, assistant professor of environment science at Gurukul Kangri University pointed out that the Haridwar-Motichur track and Sitapur railway track area are quite sensitive when it comes to elephant movement. “They often move in this area as it is a traditional corridor,” he said
Forest officials added that local villagers are also being sensitised about the need to quickly inform the forest department when they spot elephant movement near railway tracks.
{{/usCountry}}Forest officials added that local villagers are also being sensitised about the need to quickly inform the forest department when they spot elephant movement near railway tracks.
{{/usCountry}}Local villagers pointed out that elephant movement is often noticed in and around the Jamalpur-Sitapur railway crossing as the elephants move towards agricultural fields and in search of water.
With the increase in the elephant population, the man-elephant conflict is increasing in Uttarakhand’s Terai areas, due to which both people and elephants are getting killed. There are 2,026 elephants in the state currently, while in 2012, there were 1,559 and in 2017 there were 1,839 elephants in the state.
Over the years elephants have been killed in train- hit incidents, especially in the state’s Tarai area.
In August last year, one female elephant and her calf were killed in Peepal Parao range of forest on the Lalkuan-Kashipur route in US Nagar after being hit by a speeding train. In February last year, an elephant was killed in a train- hit incident in Nainital district. In July 2020, a three-year-old elephant was killed in Nakraunda area of Dehradun forest division in train hit incident. In November 2021, a 35-year-old female elephant was killed in a train- hit incident in the state.
In May 2018, a five-year-old female elephant died in a train- hit incident on Lalkuan-Bareilly railway track, in Nainital district. In March 2018, an elephant had died in a similar train- hit incident near Nagla bypass on the Lalkuan-Bareilly railway line. In April 2017, two elephant calves were killed in a train- hit incident near Haldi railway station in Kumaon.
In August 2018, while expressing serious concern over the death of elephants in train hit incidents, the Uttarakhand high court had directed the Union railway ministry to construct underpasses in the identified elephant corridors in the state and ensure that the speed of the trains should the lowest possible while they are passing through elephant corridors in the state.
The court had given these directions while hearing a public interest litigation regarding encroachments around the Corbett Tiger Reserve. The HC had also directed the forest department to coordinate with the railway department through wireless and to have an animal tracking system in place to ensure wild animals are not killed in rail- hits. The division bench also remarked that officials should have compassion while dealing with matters related to wildlife in the state.