Bhubaneswar/Rourkela, Oct 15 (PTI) An elephant calf was killed and two other jumbos were injured after being hit by a goods train in Odisha's Sundargarh district, forest officials said on Tuesday.
The incident took place around 9.30 pm on Monday on the Howrah-Mumbai line near Bondamunda in Bisra range of the Rourkela Forest Division.
A herd of 23 elephants came on the track after being chased by local people, the officials said.
While a calf was crushed under the wheels of the train, two other elephants also suffered injuries, they said adding that the loco pilot was detained.
The authorities brought food and water for the injured elephants
The herd was probably coming from Kudurbahal forest and was heading towards Pokharabahal using their usual corridor.
Forest officials and local police reached the spot and began an investigation into the incident.
“We will inquire about who is responsible for the death of the calf. Because we had followed the standard operating procedure (SOP) and informed the railway authorities about the movement of the elephants,” said Rourkela Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Jasobant Sethi.
He said there is a forest control room at Bondamunda, which is manned by three personnel round the clock to check the movement of elephants on railway tracks.
The DFO said the forest department had informed the railway regarding the movement of elephants near the track at about 9.21 pm.
“They (railway) informed me that one goods train was on the move and this was stopped immediately. However, another one came from the opposite direction and caused the accident. It is going to be investigated,” said the DFO.
The loco pilot was detained and was being questioned.
Stating that the postmortem of the dead elephant calf was completed by 2 PM on Tuesday, the DFO said a large contingent of forest officials were ready to take care of the injured elephants.
“We are keeping an eye on injured elephants as they are under heavy stress. We have got food for them like papaya, banana, banana leaves, watermelon and branches of banyan tree along with water because they have not eaten anything since last night,” Sethi said.
He said that attempts are made to tranquilise the injured pachyderms so that they could be treated medically, the DFO said.
Temporary solar fencing was being erected to stop the injured and other herd members from travelling to the railway track.
Meanwhile, trains passing through the area have been asked to run slowly due to the presence of elephants in the region.