Officials estimate that the mother was roughly 21 years old and the calf was about 10 months old...
Digital Desk: A female elephant and her calf were killed after being allegedly hit by a Rajdhani Express train in Assam's Jorhat district on Sunday night, forest officials said on Monday.
According to the officials, the tragedy happened at 10:50 pm on Sunday after the Naginimora Rajdhani Express hit the herd, dragging the elephants over fifty meters along the railway tracks.
Officials estimate that the mother was roughly 21 years old and the calf was about 10 months old.
Forest officer of Jorhat district Biken Pegu said the matter is under investigation. "One female elephant and its calf were killed in the incident. We are investigating the matter and will take action," he said.
The forest department claimed that they informed the railway officials of the elephant movement several hours in advance, but the train's speed was not reduced.
"We informed railway officials about the movement of a herd of elephants on a WhatsApp group around 8 pm on Sunday and asked them to reduce the speed of the train. The railway officials did not cooperate. The accident happened at around 10:50 pm," Pegu said.
"Our officials wrote letters to the railway department and requested that the trains must maintain prescribed speed limits, but responding to that, the Railways said they incur losses if that is done," he added.
However, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) officials refuted the accusations, claiming that the area official had already been warned due to the elephant corridor and that the train's speed was below 50 kmph since that was what the forest department had instructed.
"Visibility was terrible, and it was almost 11 o'clock. Even so, our loco pilot made an effort to halt the train and save the elephants," NFR official Sabyasachi De said.
He said in the last five years, over 1,100 elephants that came in front of moving trains were saved. "It takes around 500 meters for a train to stop in an emergency situation. In the last five years, around 35 elephants died but we saved 1,166. There have to be collective efforts from all sides to save elephants, only blaming the railways won’t help," he added.
According to the NFR, this was the sixth incidence this year in which elephants were killed by fast trains in Assam, and in 103 of cases, they managed to save the animals.
Forest officials stated that the mother and the calf both suffered severe head injuries. They died four hours after the incident, but the forest department was unable to provide adequate treatment due to a lack of facilities.
"We need a proper treatment center in upper Assam for quick response in such situations. We tried to bring medical teams from Guwahati but it took time. Both the elephants died before we could start treatment," Pegu said.
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