Committee to work in coordination with the Railways, Wildlife Institute of India as well as Kerala and Tamil Nadu
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Central Monitoring Committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to look into the media report on elephant deaths caused by trains in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The committee would work in coordination with the Railways, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the governments of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Project Elephant was launched in 1992 by the Union environment ministry to provide financial and technical support to wildlife management efforts of states to protect their elephants.
A joint meeting must be held by the committee with the states and the Southern Railways in a month to work out necessary modalities, including with the authority that will incur expenditure, the court said.
A news report from the national daily The Hindu dated May 29, 2021 about night and early morning trains causing most elephant deaths prompted the NGT to consider the issue, June 25.
The report claimed that several elephants died on a railway track from Kottekad in Kerala and Madukkarai in Tamil Nadu. A total of seven elephants lost their lives after being hit by trains on B line (passing through reserve forest for 23 kilometres between Madukkarai- Kanjikode stations) and one elephant was killed on A line (that runs through reserve forest for 17 km between Chullimada-Madukkarai stations) between 10 pm and 6 am.
The Palakkad Railway Division has taken various measures to mitigate elephant hit by trains, including:
The report filed by Tamil Nadu stated that a poor visibility on the tracks and an unfavourable topography led to the deaths.
An inter-ministerial meeting was held between the Railways and the MoEF&CC and measures discussed to construct under bridges, fencing and side drains. The MoEF&CC, however, failed to make the payment and the said steps were not taken, the court said.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
India Environment Portal Resources :
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.