An elephant mowed down by a speeding train near Guwahati

The incident took place in the wee hours this morning while the elephant was killed after being hit by the speeding train at Panbari, Chandrapur area, near Guwahati.

The team of forest department reached the spot.

Speaking to media a local man said, "The elephant came at around 3.30 AM when it was hit and killed by a speeding train."

The death of the elephant has raised concern among the local people.

Earlier this year in September a female elephant and her one-year-old male calf was mowed down by a high-speed goods train while crossing the track at Pathorkhola railway station under Lumding Railway Division in Hojai district. And in another incident in the same place, an elephant was dragged for around 100 meters by the Kanchenjunga Express train in January.

In 2018, four elephants were killed and another seriously injured when a high-speed train hit the herd of elephants in Nagaon district of Assam. The accident took place when the Guwahati-Silchar passenger train was crossing the Hawaipur Railway Station and a herd of elephants were there in the area. However, no injuries of passengers were reported.

A few years ago, Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma wrote to NF Railway  authorities to put restrictions on train speed limits at the elephant corridors.

The number of elephant deaths, due to accidents, is on the rise in Assam.

According to the data of the State Forest Department, 110 elephants died between the year 2015 to 2018.

49 elephants were killed in Railway accidents between 2016-18 (9 in 2015-16, 21 causalities in 2016-17 and 19 in 2017-18) in India. Out of the total 49, 37 deaths of elephants on train tracks across the country are from West Bengal and Assam.

Elephants in Assam were also killed in conflicts with humans. According to government figures, 80 elephants died in clashes with humans in 2019.

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