Coimbatore: A team of experts from the Project Elephant Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, deployed to investigate the deaths of wild elephants on railway tracks, visited vulnerable places on the Palakkad-Madukkarai road on Saturday.
The team led by Hari Kumar, former Chief Wildlife Warden of Kerala, Bilal Habib of Wildlife Institute of India, scientist KM Selvan and Pragya Panda of Project Elephant Division conducted the inspection along with officials of forest department of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. A forest department official said the inspection was done on the basis of a case registered with the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
While track A and track B run between Coimbatore and Palakkad railway station, 1.8 km of track A and 2.8 km of track B pass through a reserve forest in Tamil Nadu.
Eight elephants died in five accidents between 2008 and 2021. One of them was inside a reserved forest area. “Therefore, it is important to examine the entire section and collect vital details to prepare a plan and take measures to avoid the death of the elephants,” the official said.
Assistant Conservator of Forests M Senthil Kumar said the team traveled in a special inspection train from Palakkad to Madukkarai railway station on Track B and returned to Walayar on Track A. “The team analyzed the reasons behind the train accident, mitigation measures taken by the forest department and railways and further action to avoid such incidents in future. It will submit a report to the NGT,” he said.
While several measures have been taken by the forest department to avoid such accidents, forest officials had sent a proposal a few months back, seeking more facilities to avoid them. “We sought a watchtower, an additional five anti-depression watchers and suggested two underpasses on the route. There is a need to install more signboards and solar lights on the stretch,” said Senthil.
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