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Journalism of Courage
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Sunday shared a video of a rhino being hit by a truck while it was trying to cross a road in the Haldibari Animal Corridor in Assam. The video shows the animal limping after the impact, regaining its posture and going back into the wilderness.
While sharing this clip, the chief minister wrote the truck that collided with the animal was intercepted and fined. He also added the government is working on a special 32-km elevated corridor that will prevent similar accidents.
Since being posted, the video has gone viral with over five lakh views and thousands of reshares.
Criticising the lack of wildlife-friendly infrastructure made by the government, a Twitter user wrote, “Mega infrastructure development provides mankind easy access between places, however it impacts biodiversity when it is located in their habitat. The impact spans stress induced behavior change, wildlife fragmentation, habitat degradation,….and in this case even death #wildlfe”.
Many people applauded the chief minister for imposing a fine on the driver as they believed he was driving over the speed limit through the heavily forested area. Some argued that the injury to the rhino could have been mitigated if the vehicle’s speed was less.
However, people also defended the driver and contended he did his best to avert a major accident. A Twitter user wrote, “What was the driver supposed to do there? He swerved well at such short notice. Build underpasses. Lame fines aren’t an excuse to bad design.”
