The Coordination Committee of the Ministries of Railway and Environment met on Monday to review the action taken to prevent the mowing down of jumbos by speeding trains. The committee had met earlier last month in the wake of trains mowing down nine jumbos in Odisha and West Bengal.

While the Environment Ministry is working on the electronic tracking of elephants the Railway Ministry will also join hands with the Ministry of Science and Technology to work out means for wireless tracking of jumbos.

The meeting noted that the speed of the trains has been brought to 50 km per hour in the jumbo killer zones of North Bengal and Odisha. More such areas are also being identified where the railways would observe the speed limit. Floodlights would also be put up along the tracks to enable better vision for the train drivers.

Further, the guidelines on identification of vulnerable patches of wildlife habitats and erection of signages to warn train drivers and other railway personnel are being worked on. Thick vegetation growing along both sides of the track which pose a hazard are also being removed by the railways. The attendants working in pantry cars on the trains have been directed not to throw food stuff out on the track, which may attract wildlife.

 The sources said  the controversial project involving the proposed extension of rail track from Sevoke in North Bengal to Rangpo in Sikkim also came up for discussion. While the state wildlife advisory board of West Bengal had given its nod for the proposed project sending it to National Board For Wildlife, the ministry of environment had recently sent a three member team from the standing committee of NBWl, to inspect the site.

The standing committee of NBWl had opposed the project in its earlier meeting. The differences are believed to have cropped up in the meeting on which the decision is pending.

The meeting was attended by the senior officials from Environment Ministry, including Project Elephant, members from Railway Board besides the Chief Wildlife Wardens from West Bengal and Odisha amongst others. For reasons not known, the Ministry of Environment and Forests preferred to remain tight lipped on the outcome of the meeting, stating it was confidential.

Pioneer news Service n New Delhi

The Coordination Committee of the Ministries of Railway and Environment met on Monday to review the action taken to prevent the mowing down of jumbos by speeding trains. The committee had met earlier last month in the wake of trains mowing down nine jumbos in Odisha and West Bengal.

While the Environment Ministry is working on the electronic tracking of elephants the Railway Ministry will also join hands with the Ministry of Science and Technology to work out means for wireless tracking of jumbos.

The meeting noted that the speed of the trains has been brought to 50 km per hour in the jumbo killer zones of North Bengal and Odisha. More such areas are also being identified where the railways would observe the speed limit. Floodlights would also be put up along the tracks to enable better vision for the train drivers.

Further, the guidelines on identification of vulnerable patches of wildlife habitats and erection of signages to warn train drivers and other railway personnel are being worked on. Thick vegetation growing along both sides of the track which pose a hazard are also being removed by the railways. The attendants working in pantry cars on the trains have been directed not to throw food stuff out on the track, which may attract wildlife.

 The sources said  the controversial project involving the proposed extension of rail track from Sevoke in North Bengal to Rangpo in Sikkim also came up for discussion. While the state wildlife advisory board of West Bengal had given its nod for the proposed project sending it to National Board For Wildlife, the ministry of environment had recently sent a three member team from the standing committee of NBWl, to inspect the site.

The standing committee of NBWl had opposed the project in its earlier meeting. The differences are believed to have cropped up in the meeting on which the decision is pending.

The meeting was attended by the senior officials from Environment Ministry, including Project Elephant, members from Railway Board besides the Chief Wildlife Wardens from West Bengal and Odisha amongst others. For reasons not known, the Ministry of Environment and Forests preferred to remain tight lipped on the outcome of the meeting, stating it was confidential.