Assam Minister seeks measures to prevent elephant deaths hit by trains

Guwahati, July 12: Assam Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika on Friday requested state’s Environment and Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary to take measures to prevent elephant deaths hit by trains.

Hazarika’s request to Patowary comes four days after an adult wild elephant died after being hit by a speeding train in Assam’s Morigaon district on July 9.

Officials said the mishap took place at Jagiroad area on the outskirts of Guwahati city. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) officials said that the area was not an elephant corridor, so there were no speed restrictions.

Expressing his concern over the recent incident of the elephant being killed on the railway tracks in Morigaon, Hazarika said that during ‘Gaj Utsav 2023’, Assam announced key measures to augment Project Elephant in the state.

“Elephants are an integral part of Assam's ecosystem. If deemed fit, the ambit of such measures may be expanded to areas where elephant activity has recently increased such as Jagiroad,” Hazarika told Patowary.

He said that the July 9 incident was not the first such incident in the same area, the area where the incident took place is not a known elephant corridor and earlier two such elephant-related incidents took place in its vicinity.

“The Forest Department may be directed to undergo a study if the known occupancy locations of the elephant in the state are shifting,” he said.

He said that preventive measures may be taken to map out such corridor routes and work in tandem with relevant stakeholders such as Railways, NHAI, District Administration and state PWD to strengthen safety measures.

“This can include studying the need for implementing technological or Al-based solutions to detect Elephant movement near roads and railway tracks in Jagiroad,” Hazarika in his letter pointed out.