Assam: Tusker Thought to be Dead in Train Accident, Survives

GUWAHATI: In an odd but fortunate turn of events, one of the elephants that was thought to have died in the train accident in Jorhat was rescued and remains alive. An officer from the Forest Department of Assam made the announcement regarding the death and held the train driver responsible for the incident. The accident happened in Jorhat. The Rajdhani Express hit a herd of elephants and dragged a female elephant and its calf for about fifty meters down the track. The calf died but its mother survived. The location of the incident is said to be near the Kharikatia railway station and the time was around 10:50 PM on Sunday night.

The female tusker was rescued on Tuesday by the officials of the forest department. The injured elephant was lifted using a backhoe loader and put on a truck before taking it for proper treatment. The only proper treatment facility in the region for elephants is the Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation in Kaziranga.

A person from the forest department mentioned that the railway officials were informed about the presence of the herd of wild elephants and to reduce the speed of the train. But the loco driver of the Rajdhani Express did not heed the information and continued to move at high speed. This led to the accident leading to the death of two elephants. One of which one adult female was later rescued while the calf succumbed to the injuries received.

In reply to these allegations, officials from the Northeast Frontier Railways pointed out the bad visibility at the location at that point in time. They also mentioned that the loco driver was maintaining speeds below the limit suggested by the forest department.

Chandra Mohan Patowary, state minister for environment and forest of Assam had accepted the lack of adequate resources to tackle such a situation. He mentioned that the forest officials did not have proper tranquillizers to bring the wild animal under control. The lack of necessary resources and adverse weather conditions added to the problems of the rescuers.

Also read: Assam: Dhemaji Again Hit by Floods, Heavy Rainfall Predicted

Also watch: