Monday, 21 February 2022 | PNS | Lalkuan
An elephant died after being hit by a special goods train going from Lalkuan towards Bareilly. The incident took place early on Sunday morning after which officials of the Forest department and railways reached the accident site to begin inquiry into the mishap. After the post mortem, the carcass of the elephant was buried in the jungle. The Forest department has booked the locomotive pilot and co-pilot under the Wildlife Protection Act. The Terai east divisional forest officer Sanjay Kumar informed that the whole incident is being investigated, while adding that the Forest department is alert for saving wildlife.
According to the goods train locomotive pilot Vipin Kumar, the accident took place at about 4:20 AM when he was driving the down DMT train from Lalkuan towards Bareilly. The locomotive pilot saw four elephants coming out of the farms in the Bindukhatta area and crossing the track towards forests of the Terai central division. Kumar states that the train was travelling at a speed of 30-35 kmph and he slowed it down to 5 kmph on seeing the elephants. However, one elephant was hit by the train. According to the departmental officials who reached the site to probe the incident and undertake due process, the herd of elephants returned to the site and trumpeted for quite some time before going to the jungle. The DFO informed that accidents had occurred on this rail block in the past too following which orders had been issued to ply trains on slow speed while going through the area. Despite this, the accident on Sunday resulted in the death of an elephant which is unfortunate, he said. It is pertinent to mention here that at least three elephants have died in accidents involving trains in this area so far.
