A division bench of the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday pulled up the Railways for failing to conduct an inquiry into the deaths of two lions on the tracks in Rajula and Pipavav within a month in January. The High Court has directed the Railways to coordinate with the state’s Forest Department to chalk out an SOP (standard operating procedure) to ensure "zero" occurrence of such deaths. A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) from 2018 on the preservation of the Gir Sanctuary’s ecosystem for the Asiatic lions. Hemang Shah, the amicus curiae in the case, also pointed out before the court that part of the fencing and barricading around the tracks through and beyond the eco-sensitive zone of Gir are broken or have been removed, further putting lions at risk. The bench directed that the state government and Railways — in coordination with each other — “should reinstall fencing or barricades along the track.” Shah also suggested that the Railways should work out modalities wherein the movement of goods trains — in and around the Gir Sanctuary — can be halted from sunset to sunrise as lions are more active at night, being nocturnal animals. It was further submitted that while the eyesight of lions is six times more powerful than humans, sudden lights from trains blind them which ultimately lead to their deaths. After it was pointed out to the court that two lion deaths on the train tracks occurred in January in Rajula and Pipavav, the court took adverse note of the Railways’ submission that no such inquiry was conducted although the statement of the train driver was taken where the driver had stated that the lion could not be saved despite applying brakes as it had suddenly come on the track. Ramnandan Singh, the counsel appearing for the railways, further submitted before the court that “drivers act in coordination with forest officials who generally report about the movement of lions near or on the railway tracks” and that “the train driver generally goes very slow and the speed is up to 45 kmph only in and around Gir Sanctuary.” Singh also added that lion deaths have reduced in the past few years. An upset Chief Justice Agarwal however remarked, “It should be zero.there cannot be any accolades for reducing the number. We have killed many of them because of apathy on the part of the department. If you lose one, you are losing many of them. You cannot say it is not a big deal.” The court went on to record in its order, “.in the absence of any report of the inquiry into the two accidents that occurred in January 2024, we do not have any reason to believe the statement of the counsel (for the railways).The fact remains that railway and forest officials are to act in coordination and to be in sync as to how to save the lions which are the pride of the country. They should sit together and work out the SOP to curb any such accidents in the future and achieve the target of zero occurrence of such accidents. The requirement of reinstalling the fencing along the tracks throughout the sanctuary and nearby areas up to at least 100 km is also to be discussed with the forest officials, who are the best judge to inform the railways about the movement of lions and the requirement to curb such accidents in future.” The court has kept the matter for further consideration on April 12 when the Railways is expected to conduct meetings with forest officials on this issue and report to the court.
