ANGUL: A day after an adult tusker was killed after being hit by a train near Jarpada railway station in Angul district, the Forest department has asked railway officials to limit the speed of trains to below 20 km per hour from pillar 121 to 136 on Jarapada section.
As per the forest department, a herd of seven elephants, including three tuskers and two calves, is roaming in the forest close to the railway line. The herd .
Jarapada range officer Madhaba Nayak said, “We are more cautious after the recent mishap even as the movement of the herd is being constantly tracked. The Forest department has issued warning to railway authorities to operate trains at speeds below 20 km per hour between Jarapada and Boinda.”
So far no case has been registered by the Forest department against the railways with regard to the death of the 30-year-old tusker which was run over by Sambalpur-Shalimar Mahima Gosain Express near Dehurisahi under the Jarpada forest range.
Noted wildlife activist Prasanna Behera said a case should have been immediately registered under Wildlife Protection Act. “Cases were registered immediately after similar mishaps from other parts of the state,” he said adding, the incident has brought to the fore lack of coordination between the railways and the Forest department.
Preliminary probe suggested, the weekly express train was running at a high speed between Angul and Sambalpur. “It hit the lone tusker, which was crossing the track near Dehurisahi at around 9.30 pm.
The adult elephant that was on its way from Para to Salia reserve forest died on the spot,” Angul DFO Bibek Kumar had said. An investigation is on to ascertain the speed of the train and assess the circumstances under which the mishap occurred.