Train Hits Mitigation Project to prevent elephant deaths
Chamikara Weerasinghe
The Department of Wildlife Conservation is cooperating strategically
with Sri Lanka Railways to prevent increasing elephant deaths on railway
tracks before it can manifest into a elephant-train conflict as in India
where at least 15 elephants die annually due to being run over by
speeding goods trains.
It has been revealed after an inspection tour of Gal Oya and Kanthale
railway tracks by Agrarian and Wildlife Minister Chandrasena, that
overgrown shrubberies that have spread up to railway tracks are the
reson for majority of train-hit elephant accidents in Sri Lanka.Eight
elephants, three males, three females and two baby elephants were killed
on account of being hit by trains this year, sources at Wildlife
Department said.
“The animals have lost their track in search of leaves, twigs, grass
and flowers for their diet,” said Wildlife Department Elephant
Conservation Unit Deputy Director Pathirathna.
“It will be necessary to grow vegetation around railway tracks to
ensure the safety of elephants.
“However, this is not going to be a fully-fledged solution to the
problem,” Pathirathne pointed out.
Trains that operate cris-crossing through these forest areas with
elephant population will have to be upgraded, he said.
Some of these trains do not have proper horn kits, some do not have
headlights, and some do not even have proper speed metres and speed
control mechanism, he explained.
He said the Wildlife Department has met with Sri Lanka Railway
operations to discuss the matters. We are taking steps to restore these
conditions under a joint Trains Hit Mitigation Project to save elephants
from fatal collisions before it can turn into a serious train-elephant
conflict.
“We have carried out surveys in accident prone areas. We plan to
monitor these areas for the safety of the animals,” he said.
The Wildlife Department has proposed to provide patrolling teams
along certain railway stretches to prevent possible elephant-train
accidents. The railway stretch between Buttala and Katharagama would be
one of them, he said.
“We requested Railway authorities to fill the spaces between sleepers
of the railway tracks with more stones so that it will prevent the
jumbos getting stuck between the distance between the sleepers as a
precautionary measure,” he added.
At least Rs 15 million would be needed to address the issue on a
pragmatic footing, he said.
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