With an aim to prevent deaths of rare Asiatic lions on tracks, the Indian Railways has changed the schedule of 10 trains passing through their abode, Gir forest, and adjoining areas, stopping operations of some of them at night hours. The decision of IR comes after a direction by the Gujarat High Court to take steps to prevent incidents of trains hitting the lions. In an official release, the Bhavnagar division of Western Railway (WR) announced that the timing of 10 local passenger trains will change from October 7. The trains include those operating between Veraval and Delwada; Delwada and Junagadh; Amreli and Veraval; Amreli and Junagadh; and Veraval and Amreli. Running on metre-gauge tracks, these trains connect Amreli, Junagadh and Gir Somnath districts of Gujarat. “For ensuring safety of Asiatic lions as directed by the honourable Gujarat High Court, trains are not to be operated at night hours on Kasiya Ness-Sasan and Junagadh-Bilkha sections. Presently, Train No. 9531 Delwada-Junagadh and Train No. 9540 Junagadh-Amreli reach their destinations at 20.20 hours and 20.30 hours, (respectively). it has been decided to change timings of 10 trains running on metre-gauge tracks in Bhavnagar division from October 7,” Mashooq Ahmed, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of Bhavnagar division of the WR, said in a release. Asiatic lions' only wild population in the world is thriving in Gir forest and other protected areas spread over Junagadh, Amreli, Gir Somnath, and Bhavnagar districts in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region. However, as their population is increasing, lions, which are territorial animals, are seen to be extending their range into revenue areas where they are hitting hurdles such as railway tracks. Around a dozen lions have been run over by train in or around Gir forest over the past one decade. As many as seven of these deaths were reported between July 21, 2023 and January 22, 2024 on railway tracks in Amreli district in Gir (east) and Shetrunji wildlife divisions. More recently, a lion was run over by a train on July 24 this year in Amreli, marking the death of the eighth big cat on the busy railway lines. After the spate of deaths, the HC had directed the Railways and Gujarat forest department to take steps to prevent further casualties. As an immediate measure, the Bhavnagar division of WR had agreed to reduce speed of trains to 40 kilometres during night hours while passing through nine hotspots of lion movement on Pipavav-Surendranagar line in April this year. As per officials in Bhavnagar, in the first five months of the current financial year, loco pilots saved 65 Asiatic lions by applying emergency brakes and stopping trains after noticing movement along tracks. While the Kasiya Ness-Sasan section passes through Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, Junagadh-Bilkha section skirts Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary, another home of Asiatic lions.
