All the eight accidents that claimed the lives of 12 elephants near Madukkarai and Walayar from 2006 were at night.
“Only three of the incidents were in Coimbatore. The rest were in Palakkad District. The previous elephant death on the track in Coimbatore district was in 2009,” a senior official in Palakkad Division told The Hindu .
The officer said that after nine such accidents from 2006 to 2010, not it has come down drastically following a series of efforts taken by the Railways and Forest Departments.
“However, we are striving hard to bring it down to zero,” he added. The efforts included installation of 20 solar powered LED lights at curve No. 16 and 18 in B line.
Stating that a permanent solution is construction of elephant crossing corridor under the railway track or subways and fencing both sides of the track on this section which runs for 25 km, Palakkad Division stated that a proposal for Rs. 30 crore was made for the project.
Stating that the Forest Department was unable to fund it, the division added that they were trying to implement it through MPs Local Area Development or Corporate Social Responsibility funding.
The railways maintained that the trains with a slow speed restriction, moved at a speed of 35 km. to 40 km. an hour, which is within the speed of 45 km. in that stretch at night and the loco pilot tried applying the brakes but unfortunately hit the jumbo.
Meeting
District Forest Officer (DFO) in-charge A. Periyasamy, after conducting preliminary inquiries at the accident spot, told The Hindu that they would be organising a meeting with railways in a couple of days to discuss preventing such incidents.
Mr. Periyasamy said that as an ad-hoc measure, the forest department will deploy men to chase the wild elephants getting close to the track at night till a permanent solution was worked out for the issue.
‘Permanent solution is construction of elephant crossing corridor under the track or subways and fencing both sides of the track’
