New Delhi: In six years from 2019-2024, 81 elephants died in India after collisions with trains, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Monday informed the Parliament.
Responding to MP Yusuf Pathan from the Trinamool Congress in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh confirmed the 81 elephant casualties across the country between 2019-2020 and 2023-24.
According to the data presented by the Centre in the Rajya Sabha earlier this year, 15 elephants died in 2021-22 due to train hits, 15 in 2022-23, and 17 in 2023-24.
The data showed that while train collisions remained a concern, electrocution was the main reason behind elephant deaths in India, followed by train hits, poaching, and poisoning.
“The MoEFCC, in coordination with the Ministry of Railways, has taken several measures to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks including conducting inter-ministerial meetings,” the response read, adding that the Centre also introduced other measures such as speed restrictions for trains plying in elephant habitats, pilot projects such as seismic sensor-based elephant detection, the construction of underpasses, ramps, and fencing at various locations.
The minister added that the ministry, with Dehradun’s Wildlife Institute of India and other stakeholders, also published a document—‘Eco-friendly Measures to Mitigate Impacts of Linear Infrastructure’—intending to assist project agencies in “designing linear infrastructure, including railway lines, in a manner that reduces human-animal conflict.”
Ramps, underpasses and fences reduce the number of elephants falling victim to train hits in various locations by providing them with alternative paths for movement.
“A comprehensive report has been prepared after field surveys across 127 identified railway stretches spanning a total of 3,452.4 km. Based on the intensity of wildlife movement, 77 railway stretches covering 1,965.2 km across 14 states have been prioritised for mitigation, along with site-specific intervention,” the response read.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: India has elephants, China doesn’t. Credit goes to ancient India’s land ethics