Four elephants of a herd including two calves, aged one and five years, and two adults were killed after being hit by the Howrah-Mumbai CSMT Mail train near the Telidihi railway crossing under the Bagdihi Forest Range in Jharsuguda district on the wee hours of Monday.
According to reports, the herd of elephants was hit by a freight train while the pachyderms were crossing railway tracks around 4 am, resulting in death of the four elephants.
Bagdihi forest Ranger Batakrushna Sethi told the Railways had been asked to reduce the speed of trains while crossing the forest range.
On being informed, forest officials rushed to the spot and removed the carcasses from the track using JCBs. Train movements were affected as the carcasses were lying on the track for around four hours. Trains including Bokaro-Alleppey Express and Tapaswini Express were halted at Jharsuguda Station.
Meanwhile, local residents blamed the South Eastern Railways and the Forest department for the tragic incident. They questioned how the forest officials were not aware about the movements of the elephants on the railway tracks although they were regularly frequenting the areas. Similarly, the SER has grossly erred in not taking adequate measures to put up fencing on the vulnerable spots of the railway tracks, while the train driver should have blown horns and regulated speed of the train to 20-25 km while running through the elephant movement areas, they said.