Environment Minister informs LS, 81 elephants died  in train accident over five years

 
 
        Union Minister of State for Environment, Kirti Vardhan Singh has said that a total of 81 elephant casualties due to train collisions were reported by various states in the last five years. Mr. Singh gave this information today, in response to a written reply in the Lok Sabha. He also informed that the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry, in coordination with the Ministry of Railways, has taken several measures to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks including conducting inter-ministerial meetings. The Minister said that speed restrictions in elephant habitats, pilot projects like seismic sensor-based elephant detection, construction of underpasses, ramps, fencing, have been undertaken at various locations. Mr. Singh said that based on the intensity of wildlife movement, 77 railway stretches covering around two thousand kilometres across 14 States have been prioritized for mitigation along with site-specific interventions.