Assam train tragedy: Elephant toll rises to 8; Jharkhand cancels 8 trains from Dec 22–24, NE imposes curbs

GUWAHATI/JAMSHEDPUR: Elephant deaths from a Rajdhani Express collision in central Assam rose to eight Sunday as a calf died during treatment, while rail authorities in Jharkhand cancelled eight trains from Dec 22 to 24 amid heightened movement of wild herds near tracks.A male calf — less than 15 days old — died at Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation in Kaziranga, said Kampur range forest officer Shamim Aktar. “It suffered a leg fracture, spinal injury and internal injuries,” he said.Seven elephants, including four calves, were killed on the spot when New Delhibound Rajdhani from Sairang in Mizoram hit a herd around 2am Saturday at Sangjurai village in Assam’s Hojai district.

No intrusion detection system was installed at the site and villagers said dense night fog may have contributed.Northeast Frontier Railway imposed a 30kmph speed cap for trains in a 1km radius of the crash zone and posted a watchman round-the-clock over 500m on either side. Measures will stay for a week, with further directions expected.Close on the heels of the disaster in Assam, the Chakradharpur (CKP) railway division under the South Eastern Railway (SER) on Sunday announced to cancel as many as eight trains from Dec 22 to 24 in the wake of increased movement of jumbos in the area.

Notably, this is the third time that the CKP division has announced the cancellation of trains in quick succession.The CKP division attributed the cancellation to the frequent movement of elephants on three different sections under its limits.Seven MEMU & 1 passenger train cancelled: RlysCurrently, the Rourkela-Chakradharpur, Rourkela-Jharsuguda, and Rourkela-Nuagaon sections are affected by the frequent movement of elephants, prompting officials to announce the cancellation of seven MEMU and one passenger train on the up and down routes.The railway informed that Tata-Barbil-Tata MEMU (68125/68126), Tata-GuaTata MEMU (68019/68020), Chakradharpur-Rourkela Chakradharpur MEMU (68025/68026), Tata-Rourkela-Tata MEMU (68043/ 68044), Hatia-Jharsuguda Hatia MEMU (18175/18176), Rourkela-Jharsuguda Rourkela MEMU (68029/ 68030), Chakradharpur-Tata-Kharagpur-Chakradhar pur MEMU (68010/68009/ 68066), besides Birmitrapur-Barsuan-Birmitrapur passenger (58151/58152), have been cancelled.Earlier, the divisional railway cancelled five passenger trains on December 18 and 19, and then on December 20-21, four trains were cancelled on the same route. Now, the cancellation has been extended for the third consecutive time. Notably, the movement of elephants has not only increased on the tracks in the Chakradharpur division but also in villages near the tracks.Earlier on Friday, a villager was trampled to death in the Manoharpur block of the West Singhbhum district.Railway officials have stated that the back-to-back cancellation of trains is driven by their decision not to take any chances regarding the safety of the elephants. The senior divisional commercial manager of Chakradharpur, Aditya Choudhary, said that the long-distance trains moving on the Howrah-Mumbai route are taking necessary precautions on the identified route.“Along with the trackclearance teams doing their job, the pilots of the longdistance trains have been categorically asked to follow the standard operating procedures while moving through the identified sections,” Choudhary said.