NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Three elephants including a female and its calf were killed after they were run over by a train in West Bengal’s Jhargram on Friday early morning.
“Three elephants - a female elephant, its calf and a sub-adult - were killed on the railway tracks between Sardiha and Banshtola stations in Jhargram district in the early hours of Friday,” said Sandeep Sundriyal, chief wildlife warden of West Bengal.
Activists allege that the elephants, originally part of a larger herd, were being chased by a hulla party when the accident took place. The West Bengal forest department, however, has denied the involvement of hulla party.
Nishant Kumar, senior divisional commercial manager of Kharagpur, said,”Preliminary reports suggest that three elephants were hit by the 12022 Barbil-Howrah bound Janshatabdi Express. The Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Kharagpur has ordered an enquiry. Let the enquiry be completed and the report come. It is too early to comment at the moment,” said
Animal rights activists have alleged that hulla teams (villagers engaged by the forest department to drive away elephants) were chasing the elephants when they moved to the railway tracks and were mowed down by the train.
Officials who did not wish to be named, said that the state forest department had alerted the railways to the movement of elephants in the area but it appeared that the speed of trains passing through the stretch was not reduced.
{{/usCountry}}Officials who did not wish to be named, said that the state forest department had alerted the railways to the movement of elephants in the area but it appeared that the speed of trains passing through the stretch was not reduced.
{{/usCountry}}Prerna Bindra, wildlife expert and author said the elephants were driven to their death by the hulla party. “Do not call this horrific kiling of #elephants an ‘accident’. Driven to their deaths-a mother, two young calves -by a hulla ‘party’-the horrific, illegal state backed practise of driving #elephants using & throwing lighted #fire mashals. Using fire mashals are banned by the #SupremeCourt... The #forestdepartment, and local admin must be held accountable. @moefcc @WbfdSocial And all of us are complicit, as #forests get destroyed, fragmented in the name of ‘development’ ?” Bindra said in a post on X.
Stripes And Green Earth (SAGE) Foundation, a NGO, contested denials by the authorities. “Result of Hulla Drive, again in Jhargram Div, 3 elephants run over by train at Banstola at midnight. The DFO claims they don’t drive elephants. DFO needs to be suspended immediately. No measures taken on railway crossing points, when elephant drive was happening no coordination with Railways. Celebrating Van Mahotsav on one side and killing elephants on the other hand, what a parody by West Bengal Forest Department n specially Jhargram Div, which is also home town of Forest Minister,” it said in the post.
Over the past few years man-elephant conflict has taken a serious turn in south Bengal with incidents of casualties and damage to properties and crops being reported from five districts including Bankura, Jhargram, West Midnapore, Purulia and Birbhum.
There are some stretches, such as an 11-km stretch in Gidhni, where speed restrictions are maintained throughout the year. In 2018, three elephants were hit by a train on this stretch. In other areas, the train speed is restricted (reduced to 50km per hour or less) depending on elephant movements).
“When elephants were spotted in the Banshtola stretch, the range officer alerted the railways at around 10:56 pm on Thursday so that the speed of trains could be restricted and the trains may blow horns while passing that stretch. The accident took place around 1:45 am,” said a senior forest officer in Jhargram.
Forest officials suspect that the speed restrictions were not imposed and two trains could be involved in the accident.
“The bodies and body parts were strewn all across the tracks over a stretch of at least 100 metres. Preliminary investigation suggests that two trains could be involved and there were no speed restrictions. It also appears that the train did not apply brakes,” said a forest officer.
Railway authorities, however, said that the elephants were hit by the Howrah-bound Janshatabdi Express around 12:50 am.
The forest department often takes assistance from hulla parties to manage human-animal conflict situations.
HT reported on August 20 last year that an adult female elephant died in Jhargram in West Bengal after mobs pierced her with a flaming spear hours after another pachyderm allegedly killed a resident on the outskirts of the town, said animal rights groups, underscoring the escalating human-elephant conflict in the region and the complexities involved with controlling such situations. Following the horrific killing of the female elephant with a burning spear, animal rights groups had filed a contempt petition on October 3, 2024 in Supreme Court in Prerna Singh Bindra and Ors Versus Union of India and Ors stating that the court’s past orders had been violated by West Bengal forest department.
“Despite a clear direction from this Hon’ble Court to desist using fireballs/ mashaals except as an emergency measure – that too for a limited period, the practice of using such cruel and barbaric techniques to scare and chase elephants continues in the State of West Bengal. This continued use of mashaals for attacking elephants with disastrous outcomes shows complete apathy and lack of interest on part of the state administration to resolve the issue of human-elephant conflict,” the contempt petition had said. In response, West Bengal government had filed a counter affidavit stating that in compliance with SC’s Order dated 04.12.2018 the use of mashaals has been absolutely restricted in WB barring any emergency situation wherein steps to drive the elephants to the nearest forest are taken by Official Hulla Parties engaged officially by the Forest Department. “Pertinently, the functioning of the Official Hulla Parties is closely monitored by officers of the Forest Department as directed by this Hon’ble Court in Order dated 04.12.2018,” it said.
In spite of this, a hulla party of 15-20 people were driving a herd of around 12 elephants away towards Ramrama beat with 6-8ft hulla mashaals, according to onlookers. During this drive, the elephants came close to the railway tracks (Jhargram-Kharagpur line) near Banstala Railway Station. Around 9 elephants were driven across the tracks successfully, but 3 elephants (an adult female and two sub-adults) were lagging behind.
“At around 12:40 midnight, Jan Shatabdi Express crashed into all 3 elephants, killing them almost instantly,” said a local activist who did not wish to be named.