45 elephants killed in train accidents in 2019-2021: Govt

The Northern and Southern railways recorded two deaths each and the Northeast Frontier Railway registered four deaths.

In 2020, 16 elephants died in collision with trains. The East Coast Railway and the Northern Railway zones recorded two deaths each. The Northeast Frontier Railway zone recorded six deaths, while the Southern and South Eastern Railway recorded three deaths each.

In 2021, 19 elephants died. While the Northern Railway and North Eastern Railway zones recorded two deaths each, the East Coast Railway recorded three deaths. The Northeast Frontier Railway recorded five deaths, the Southern Railway (four), the South Eastern Railway (two) and the South Western Railway (one).

Sumanth Bindumadhav, acting country director, Humane Society International, India, said the increasing number of deaths of elephants on railway tracks is a matter of concern.

“This needs collaboration between the Indian Railways and state forest departments to address the problem in the long-run. Physical barriers have been tried in the past with limited success in some states. The solution for this needs to be driven by technology that can enable an early warning system in combination with increased sensitization of locomotive pilots towards presence of elephants on tracks on known corridors,” said Bindumadhav.

“Limiting the speed of trains in these stretches would be a great first step. It might be well worth it for the railway division and forest division to have a combined rapid response team that could clear tracks when the presence of elephants is detected,” he added.