Northeast Frontier Railway to build tunnel at Deepor Beel to save jumbos

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: With an aim to ensure the safe passage of elephants that roam in and around Deepor Beel the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has conducted a survey to check the feasibility of constructing a tunnel between Gates No.273 and 274 on the south bank rail track running through the water body.

The survey was conducted on the basis of recommendations made by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The suggestions were made the issue of knocking down of jumbos by running trains on this stretch of the railway track running through the Deepor Beel area. The proposal constructing the tunnel was highlighted by the NFR in its affidavit before the Kolkata-based Eastern Zone (EZ) Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in the Rohit Choudhury versus Union of India (in Original Application No.19 of 2014/EZ) case on the issue of railway-related elephant mortalities in the Deepor Beel area.

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