The Forest and Environment Department on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Wild life Trust of India (WTI), New Delhi for mitigating growing accidental death of elephants in the State, particularly on railway tracks.
The pact was inked between PCCF (Wildlife) Janardan Dibakar Sharma and WTI Executive Director Vivek Menon in the presence of Forest and Environment Minister Bijoyshree Routray at the State Secretariat.
Routray said that the WTI would develop a mitigation plan to address elephant mortality by train hits and identify and map the critical accident-prone sites and habitats of elephants. Besides, the WTI would also help identify the factors, ecological, physical and manmade, responsible for accidental deaths of elephants and prepare a detailed report on mitigation plan, he said.
The department and the WTI would organise awareness drives for railway drivers and ensure coordination between railway staff and Forest Department staff. The WTI would hold consultation meetings, and workshops with the Forest Department staff and other stakeholder departments to finalise the plan, Routray said.
He said the project would be implemented over a period of 12 months at a cost of Rs 9.90 lakh.
He hoped that since the WTI has successfully devised strategies to counter the threat to elephants in a number of States and areas, most prominently the Rajaji National Park, the initiative would help tackle elephants’ deaths in train accidents.
During 2012, Odisha had witnessed death of 13 elephants in railway accidents, seven in Keonjhar district, four in Ganjam and two in Dhenkanal.
Though preventing train hits of elephants is a difficult issue and would take time to stop altogether in Odisha having a vast railway network, Menon hoped, “We are positive that the strategy devised by our field team and collaborative implementation of the strategies by the Railway and forest authorities will help reduce the accidents.” The WTI has already successfully extended its expertise to 20 States in checking elephant deaths from railway accidents, he said.
This apart, he said, the WTI is interested to work with the Odisha Forest and Environment Department to have a project for conservation of bears and check the man-bear conflict in the State, Menon said.