Train kills elephant

Indian villagers, along with forestry
workers, look at the body of an
elephant as it lies on the railway
tracks after it was struck by a
passenger train at Mongpong
village, near Mahananda Wildlife
Sanctuary, some 25 kms from
Siliguri on October 11, 2013.
| credits: AFP
An adult male elephant was Friday
mowed down by a train in West
Bengal's Darjeeling district, a forest
official said.
The incident comes a day after a jumbo
with its head chopped off was found
also in the same district.
The incident happened in Mongpong,
located on the fringe of Mahananda
Wildlife Sanctuary, when the Siliguri-
Alipurduar Express hit the jumbo.
"The incident happened Friday
morning. There is a need to further
restrict the speed limit of the trains on
the Siliguri-Alipurduar stretch. We are
discussing on lowering the speed limit
to below 25 km," said Chief Wildlife
Warden N.C.Bahuguna.
Since 2004, when the tracks on the
163-km long Siliguri-Alipurduar route
were converted to broad gauge,
speeding trains have mowed nearly 40
elephants.
Following the spate of mowing down
incidents, in 2010 the speed of the
trains was been restricted to 50 km.
The railway lines on the stretch pass
through five forests-Buxa, Jaldapara,
Gorumara, Chapramari and Mahananda.
Source: IANS