Tripura Forest dept complains to railways after wild elephant injured by speeding train

The Tripura Forest Department has lodged a complaint with the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) after a wild elephant was seriously injured by a speeding train in the state's Khowai district.

A senior forest official on Monday said that a complaint was lodged with the NFR's Divisional Manager, Lumding.

The official said that a 35-year-old wild elephant was severely injured after being hit by a speeding train at Shalbagan areas under Teliamura Forest Division on Saturday night.

He said that at the initiative of the forest officials, the doctors of the state veterinary hospital have been providing medical treatment to the injured jumbo since Sunday.

According to the forest officials, a local train from Agartala to Dharmangar in northern Tripura hit the elephant on Saturday night while the animal was passing along the railway track.

Both back legs of the elephant were fractured and it cannot even crawl due to the wounds, the official said, adding that the train, which was supposed to run at a limited speed of 20 km per hour as the areas are notified elephant corridors but the train might have crossed the areas at 50 km per hour speed leading it to hit the wild elephant.

An official of the NFR also said that they are inquiring about the incident.

According to forest officials, an elephant had died in February after being hit by a train in the same designated elephant corridors.

Saturday night's incident could have been avoided had the train operated within the stipulated speed of 20 km per hour, the official said.

As per wildlife experts, elephants are classified as Schedule-I animals under the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2022, and recognized as endangered species, besides the National Heritage Animal in the country, deserve the highest level of protection and respect.

Preventive measures may be taken to map out such corridor routes and work in tandem with relevant stakeholders such as Railways, the National Highways Authority of India, district administrations and state PWD to strengthen safety measures, an expert said.