A young bull elephant is reported to have succumbed to serious injury after being hit by a train near Vaidik Nagar on the stretch between Raiwala and Motichur areas. Though officials state that the pachyderm was eating leaves when hit by the train, activists aver that the elephant was attracted to the area to browse the illegally dumped garbage in the area.
According to sources, officials state that the pachyderm is believed to have been hit accidently early on Saturday morning by the Delhi-Dehradun Nanda Devi express train. The intensity of the hit can be gauged by reports of the pachyderm having been dragged by the locomotive for about 100 metres before it landed on one side of the railway track. The young tusker had sustained serious injury especially on its hind portion, making it all the more difficult for the elephant to move.
Under torment from the severe injury, the elephant attempt to drag itself around ended up on the railway track once again. Officials who had reached the site halted the Madurai Express at the time considering the positioning of the injured pachyderm. With the authorities concerned not being able to act swiftly and take necessary action, the injured pachyderm is believed to suffered considered torment for hours before it was chemically immobilized by the department. Some activists have also expressed doubts as to the actual cause of death of the elephant. “Though the elephant had received a very bad injury, he died soon after being transquilised by the department which has made some suspect whether the pachyderm succumbed to an overdose of the drug considering the sensitiveness of the whole procedure of using chemicals to immobilize an elephant using the right amount of dose. Elephants tend to heat up to dangerous level in such situations and some fear that an overdose of the tranquiliser may have played a part in the death of the elephant,” said an activist not wanting to be named.
Animal Welfare Board of India co-opted member Gauri Maulekhi said that the garbage dumped illegally in the open in the area was the reason for elephants and other animals visiting the site to look for food. “The forest department is reported to have taken about four hours to reach the site of the mishap after being informed. The State forest department has been unable to remove encroachments like Khandgaon or allow usage of the ammunition dump as part of the corridor. The Forest Department of Uttarakhand is as dead as a doornail. They cannot protect the habitat, wildlife or even reach the places in time. Its a shame why they should continue to draw salaries at the taxpayer's expense, when the output of the department is of such low quality,” said Maulekhi. It is pertinent to mention here that apart from wildlife activists, some officials also acknowledge that there is a need for checking aspects like thepatrolling supposed to be carried out every day by team consisting of personnel of the Indian railways, state forest department and selected non governmental organisations. An activist wanting to remain anonymous questioned whether the team which is supposed to conduct the patrolling daily from Motichur to Kansaro along the railway track, covering a distance of about 18 kilometres is doing its task as required.
Apart from the painful death of the tusker estimated to be aged about 20 years, traffic on the railway track had to be held for some hours.