Tusker breaks drop gate
The Delhi-bound Purushottam Superfast Express (Puri-New Delhi) witnessed a close shave as a tusker broke the drop gate of a railway crossing at Chakulia in Ghatshila sub-division which is about 80 kms away, on Wednesday morning.
A major mishap was averted as a few seconds before the train passed the tusker crossed the track after breaking the barrier. “We are still in state of shock as we witnessed the incident. It was about 5:00 am when the incident took place. The tusker broke the barrier and crossed over the track while the train was about to arrive,” said a villager.
A railway officer posted at Chakulia station which falls under the Kharagpur railway division of South Eastern Railway also confirmed the incident. The railway official on the condition of anonymity said that the major accident was averted as the barrier could have hit the train or the tusker itself would have rammed into the speeding train, causing a derailment of the superfast. .
As the news spread the jawans of railway protection force and local police rushed to the spot and managed the commuters at the level crossing. Meanwhile, divisional forest officer, Dhalbhum, Karma Bhutia confirmed about the incident in which tusker broke the level-crossing barrier at Chakulia early in the morning.
“We are investigating the incident. As per our information, the tusker came out from jungle in Chakulia. The tusker usually cross over to the adjoining Midnapore jungle and return to its original place in search of water or food. It broke open the level crossing barrier while returning from Midnapore, “the divisional forest officer said. Bhutia said that the tusker resides at the Sunsunia jungle.
According to sources, though the elephant has not yet damaged any house nor trampled any one, but has damaged the standing paddy plants considerably.
According to a senior forest officer, the tuskers are moving from one place to another because this is the migratory season. “As we cannot stop the elephants from migrating from one jungle to another, but can safeguard the villages from the tuskers’ attack on the villages as well as the paddy fields, we have set up separate teams for tuskers- driving wherever the chances of the menace is maximum,” said the official.