Jalpaiguri: Two elephants were killed after being run over by a train on Wednesday night. While a sub-adult female died on the spot, another adult female died on Thursday morning. This is the third such incident in the past one month.
The incident took place at Rajabhatkhawa in Buxa tiger reserve, some four kilometers from Alipurduar Junction station. The Kamakshya-bound speeding Capital Express rammed into two elephants killing one on the spot. The other elephant died on Thursday. The last such accident had taken place on December 14 in the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary near Siliguri.
According to reports, a herd was crossing the railway tracks when the engine of the train smashed the elephants.
According to conservationist Animesh Bose, as many as 58 elephants have been killed in such accidents on this particular stretch between New Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar Junction stations in the last 11 years. “State forest department and the Indian Railways are equally responsible for this. There is no alternative other than strong judicial intervention in the matter,” said Heerak Nandy, member, IUCN, Commission on Ecosystem Management.
The 168km railway track between NJP and Alipurduar Junction stations was converted to broad gauge in 2004.