3 Jumbos run over in Bengal

The 168-km-long rail track between the New Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar Junction stations in North Bengal has once again proved fatal for elephants living in the Dooars.
On Saturday evening, three jumbos — an adult female and two young males — were killed and two elephants badly injured when the speeding Guwahati-bound Jhajha Express crashed into them near Madhugachh at Rajabhatkhawa inside the Buxa Tiger Reserve. The impact of the crash was such that the bodies of the elephants were flung more than 200 metres from the track. According to foresters, the injured calves are unlikely to survive.
In September 2010, seven elephants were mowed down by a goods train at Moraghat near Banerhat in the Dooars on the same railway track.

Foresters have repeatedly requested the Railways not to run trains on the track after sunset.
Soon after the accident, senior forest officials rushed to the spot and launched a search for any other injured elephant. The two injured calves were taken to Rajabhatkhawa for treatment.
Buxa Tiger Reserve field director RP Saini said, “We will lodge an FIR against the railways, but nothing will come of it. If one genuinely wants to save the elephants from being butchered under rail wheels, movement of trains on this track after sunset has to be stopped with immediate effect. Otherwise such incidents will keep on happening,”
“This is murder and not an accident. Had the train been moving slowly, the driver could have pulled the brakes after hitting the first elephant. Four animals would have been saved. Strong action should be taken against the driver and the Railways,” said Animesh Basu, coordinator of Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation.
The track, on an average, claims at least five elephants every year and injures scores of animals. In the past five years, as many as 26 elephants have been hit by trains on this track. The last such incident was reported from the Mahananda wildlife sanctuary where an elephant calf was killed last month.
“Such incidents will keep on happening because the Railways are indifferent to the issue,” said Basu.
In 2002, the WWF had moved the Calcutta high court to stop the conversion of the track from meter gauge to broad gauge. The court had allowed conversion but asked the Railways to follow certain directives so that the line did not prove fatal for animals. The norms are hardly followed.