Two elephant calves killed after being hit by train in Andhra

Two elephant calves died after they were hit by a train in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district on Thursday. The incident occurred early Thursday morning on the railway track within the limits of Kalyam village in D. Hirehall mandal. Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Forests and Environment, Pawan Kalyan, expressed grief over the incident. 

He gathered information from Forest Department officials about the accident that took place in the Rayadurgam beat and section area under the Kalyandurg Forest Range. He directed officials to implement special measures to prevent wildlife from falling prey to accidents on railway routes passing through forest areas. 

According to a release from the Deputy Chief Minister's Office, he stated that the Forest and Railway Departments should work together in coordination to ensure such accidents do not recur. Recalling a previous incident where a leopard died in a train accident on the same route, he instructed that measures be taken to ensure loco pilots operating trains on forest routes strictly follow the guidelines formulated as part of wildlife conservation efforts. 

Regarding the recent incident, he ordered Forest Department officials to arrange a coordination meeting with senior officials of the local railway department and take necessary actions to prevent accidents. He directed that discussions be held on measures to be taken for the safety of wildlife during train movements in forest areas. 

Pawan Kalyan said that loco pilots should exercise greater caution while operating trains passing through these areas. He emphasised that trains should be driven while vigilantly monitoring railway tracks, especially in areas where wildlife movement is prevalent; that train speeds should be controlled on forest routes; and that horns should be sounded regularly without fail in necessary areas to prevent accidents to wildlife. 

He also suggested that the Railway Department provide special awareness training to loco pilots operating trains on these routes regarding wildlife movement, their conservation, and accident prevention. He instructed Forest Department officials to coordinate with local railway authorities to identify areas where wildlife crosses railway tracks and focus on safety measures to be implemented in those areas. 

He also directed the PCCF to bring the issue of preventing accidents to wildlife on railway routes to the attention of the Railway General Manager concerned. The Deputy Chief Minister also reviewed the issue of a series of elephant deaths due to electrocution. He ordered the arrangement of coordination meetings with relevant collectors, along with officials from agriculture, horticulture, electricity, panchayat raj, rural development, and other allied departments in districts where such accidents are occurring frequently, to discuss prevention measures. 

He clearly stated that permanent solutions should be explored for the problem of elephant deaths caused by electric shocks. He directed senior Forest Department officials to conduct comprehensive investigations into each incident and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence in the future. Pawan Kalyan noted that coordination should be done with the Electricity Department to ensure power lines in areas with wildlife movement are at sufficient heights, and awareness should be created among farmers to avoid setting up electric fences around crops in areas with wildlife movement.