Guwahati: Continuing their efforts to mitigate elephant mortality due to train hits in Assam, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) held an interactive session with Loco Pilots, Loco Assistants, Loco inspectors and other staff of the Indian Railways, and discussed ways to find out solutions for this problem.
Two sessions were held in Lumding and Guwahati Railway Stations in collaboration Northeast Frontier Railway, Assam Forest Department and Ministry of Environment and Forests, this week. About 50 Railway staff participated and shared their experiences.
“A number of elephants are killed in railway tracks annually in Assam. It is a complex issue but one that can be solved with a united approach by the Railways and Forest Department. WTI has been coordinating this collaboration and this has successfully averted train hits of elephants on numerous occasions. But what we are looking for is complete eradication of this menace,” said Dr Rathin Barman, Coordinator, WTI.
The aim of the meetings was to generate awareness about elephant mortality due to train hits. Carried out as part of WTI’s National Train Hit Mitigation Project supported by the Elephant Family, the meetings provided a platform to sensitise the participants about the issue as a whole, as well as to inform them that their ‘Bholu’ was also the National Heritage Animal of India.
Films on the subject were being shown to the participants and presentations were given on the behavior of elephants.
“The loco pilots should be aware of the behaviour of elephants which will give them an idea about their social structure, movement pattern etc”, said Dr Anil Kumar Singh, Deputy Director and Head of Conflict Mitigation Division of WTI.
In his address to participants at Lumding Railway Station’s Running Room, Dr Singh said that interactions with the loco pilot are important because they are familiar with the railway tracks who can provide us valuable suggestions through which we can improve our perspective to find out solutions.
On the meeting`s conclusion, Dr Singh outlined some of the suggestions that the loco pilots highlighted to prevent such deaths.
Among the suggestions were to provide walky talkies to the Gang Man, better lighting and innovative use of reflectors in “vulnerable” locations for elephants, anti-fog headlights in trains, night patrolling, and training of loco-pilots.
Dhanjit Das and Tenzing Timung who help implement the project on the field were also present. “Recently a joint patrolling team involving Railways, Forest Department, and WTI supported by Elephant Family stopped a train at Deepor Beel near Guwahati and averted a possible train accident with an elephant herd,” said Das.
