An elephant calf died on September 10 after it was hit by a train near Nagargali in Khanapur taluk. Six days earlier, another elephant calf was hit by a train near Tavaragatti when a herd was crossing a tract.
The calf was severely injured and shifted to Bannerghatta.
However, it did not respond to the treatment and died.
There have been five such accidents on the Dharwad-Alnavar-Londa-Khanapur- Belgaum railway line in the past five years. Leopards, chitals and other wild animals had been hit by trains in Uttara Kannada district too, says wildlife activist Giridhar Kulkarni of Belagavi.
Observing that these accidents were due to the failure of the Railways to avoid deaths of animals, he said elephant was protected under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The area fell in an important elephant corridor within the Western Ghats. It was part of the Sharavati-Dandeli-Khanapur Tiger landscape. The forests of north Karnataka, home to around 60 odd elephants, were already facing habitat destruction and poaching, Mr. Kulkarni said.
He expressed the apprehension that the ongoing line doubling work on the Tinnaighat–Hospet section of the South Western Railway, passing through the same railway line where these incidents were reported from, could prove to be a death trap for the wildlife in future.
The government could consider an alternative line through Belagavi-Kittur-Dharwad, which would be good for wildlife as well as for the people of the region as it provided connectivity to many villages and consumed less travel time and fuel. Meanwhile, Mr. Kulkarni has lodged a complaint with R.K. Srivastava, Inspector-General, Project Elephant.
