Assam: Conservation body anguished over recent death of elephants

Guwahati: The incident of Delhi-bound Rajdhani express hitting a herd of elephants in the Jorhat district of Assam on Sunday night has caused quite a stir among the conservationists and local people.

Taking cognizance of the threat posed by train collision and how it undermines the conservation efforts to safeguard elephants and other wildlife as well, Aaranyak (www.aaranyak.org), a leading biodiversity conservation organisation, has said it was disturbed by the incident.

“It is alarming that since January 2022, eight elephants were killed by trains, four alone in a little over a month in Assam. The areas with the highest train-elephant hit occurrence are in Kampur-Hojai-Diphu-Mariani, as per a recent study. Reports indicate that between 1990 and 2018, a total of 115 elephants died in Assam due to train hits alone. The state of Assam with an estimated wild elephant population of approximately 5719, accounts for substantial unnatural elephant mortality as a result of train hits, preceded only by elephant electrocution,” an Aaranyak representative said.

“Linear infrastructure such as railway tracks often run through pristine wildlife habitats which have consequently led to habitat fragmentation posed barriers to wildlife movement and caused casualties due to collision. The threat of wildlife-train collision is magnified for long-ranging species such as Asian elephants which need expansive areas for their survival,” the representative added.

Aaranyak strongly urged the Indian Railways to look into the matter and act immediately in addressing the issue and curtail elephant-train collision. Aaranyak further demanded that the Railways should look into the matter and come up with short-term mitigation measures and long-term solutions.

Aaranyak representative said the organisation believes that the conservation costs must be prioritised while planning for developmental projects such as linear infrastructure and other land-use changes.

Also Read | Assam: Flood situation remains grim, nearly 40,000 people affected