Train engine crew booked for death of elephants in Kovai

According to the forest department, loco pilot Sufair, 54 and co-pilot Akil, 31, both from Kerala were booked under Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. The action by the forest department triggered a protest by members of loco pilots association in Palakkad Division. They gheraoed the forest department staff for a while, who visited Palakkad in the neighbouring state to investigate, whether the train was operated under the prescribed speed limit, condemning booking of cases against the two railway staff.

“The two loco pilots claimed that the train was operated at 42 kmph which is well within the permitted speed. They also said there was poor visibility and the elephants were sighted only in close quarters. Hence, despite applying the brakes, the train had hit the three elephants resulting in their death. However it is under investigation,” said a senior official of the forest department.

The three elephants, one of them a 25-year-old female, its eight-year-old female calf and another a 12-year-old tusk less male (makhna), were hit by the train, when they tried to cross the railway track at Mavuthampathy village near Navakkarai in Madukarai Forest Range in Coimbatore. The Chennai Mail train was bound to Chennai from Mangalore, when the incident happened around 9.05 pm on Friday. Immediately, forest department removed the carcass from the tracks paving way for the train to proceed with a replaced engine after a delay of couple of hours.

In a more poignant development, a post mortem was carried out on the carcass of the three elephants revealed that the female elephant was pregnant. Its fetus was also found dead inside the womb. They all were buried in the forest area in a ten feet deep pit.

TK Ashok Kumar, District Forest Officer (DFO), Coimbatore said that they have insisted the railways to further reduce the speed of trains being operated through the stretch to prevent train hits on animals. This is not a one off incident as in February 2008, four elephants were knocked down by a train, while another wild tusker died in March this year.