Guest guest Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 A wild tusker hit by the Arunachal Express (metre gauge) train near Borjili tea estate, died slow death in excruciating pain along the railway tracks at Rangapara in Assam. The elephant was knocked down in the wee hours of Wednesday. To get a scanned newspaper image of the elephant contact me, as pictures or attachments are not entertained on AAPN. Azam -- Fight captive Jumbo abuse, end Elephant Polo http://www.stopelephantpolo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 This is something I had come across during my years of elephant study. Maybe it can be given a thought here. Many years ago, a line man (one who walks along the railway tracks on foot checking for faults on the track) who was posted in jungle limits in Kerala had used a novel method to ward off this issue. 1) His pet dog who he had trained to man the lines and alert him if he sighted any elephants close to the track. The lineman would then go with crackers and chase them away. (Mind you years ago tigers also used to get run over; now that we dont have that many tigers, you dont get to hear of them being run over) 2) as he walked along the lines (many kilometers a day), he would carry a tin case (a bigger version used to burn incense in churches) in which he carried burning charcoal and constantly added chilli flakes. This had helped him to keep elephants at bay. The smell of chilli lingered in the air and for elephants whose sense of smell is very very sharp and can detect faint traces from kilometers, probably served as a deterrent and got them to stay away from tracks. Since I believe line men in India still manually monitor the tracks on foot, in jungle areas this should be given a try. This apart, train drivers need to be monitored for their speed and also they need to ensure they are sounding the horn at regular intervals. May be a fine on the driver for running over an elephant would get him to be more alert and move at permitted speeds through elephant corridors. Also since most of the railways runs on electricity, there is a possibilty where we could step down the power and have multiple electric points to keep elephants at bay. But with the track record of electric fences, this is something I would hold as a last option. All these options can be considered to be practical and feasible by noting what distance is run through jungle area. But then where there is a will there is a way. Thanks, Pablo. On 10/11/07, AZAM SIDDIQUI <azam24x7 wrote: > > A wild tusker hit by the Arunachal Express (metre gauge) train near > Borjili tea estate, died slow death in excruciating pain along the railway > tracks at Rangapara in Assam. The elephant was knocked down in the wee hours > of Wednesday. > > To get a scanned newspaper image of the elephant contact me, as pictures > or attachments are not entertained on AAPN. > > Azam > > -- > Fight captive Jumbo abuse, end Elephant Polo > http://www.stopelephantpolo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Well said Pablo and I am sure at least in some areas that lineman principle can be applied if not in every zones. Certainly we got to extract as many ideas and options possible from individuals and also from children if necessary. This is more of a political issue than a stray accident. We Indians in the name of development have completely ignored the magnitude of damage to the wildlife by constructing thousands of kilometers of Railway tracks through forests, jungles and elephant corridors and continue to do so as I write. With every Railway track comes civilisation. In the north east region of India alone people living along the railway tracks both in the remotest jungles and forests has seen to flourish the moment a new track has been laid. I do not want to go into the details of the political problems that exist as we all are mostly aware of. Unfortunately wildlife still is accorded the lowest priority in India and you cannot expect miracles that the whole of the Nation`s Ministries and State Governments will stand up strong to find a solution to this although they may have been discussing and presenting solutions. But till date all that has survived is the 'Solutions' alone without any fruitful result and yet they are religiously practiced in this country which is loosing its gentle giants in every state that perhaps has a wild population of elephants. These train-elephant/ tiger accidents are not something which have suddenly come into surface. To find concrete possible solutions we can perhaps try to rope in professionals from the IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) and other technological institutes worldwide to come up with gadgets and solutions as to how the speed can be monitored. Maybe we can install thermal vision scanners or remote sensing technology devices which can raise an alarm to the driver if there is any animal or human in the track. Having said that involving the Forest Department is certainly not worth, they do not have money to pay for the boots or wages of the lonely forest guards forget about expecting miracles from their end in funding or researching ways of minimizing the accidents. The only hope lies with the Railways, many a times I have met with the railway authorities and discussed this issue with them and got positive response, unlike the Forest department who believes in blame game and washing its hands of as I have myself seen in the past here in Assam. May I request you all to write letters to agencies within your capacity to organisations and experts in seeking ideas and solutions to this menace so that once we have a substantial amount of feedback we approach the Railway Ministry and I am quite confident that they will take 100% positive interest in resolving this issue. Remember the loss of wildlife or the elephant does not come easy, it comes for a heavy price for the Railways. The damage to the railway tracks, locomotive, human lives including their employees (driver etc), disruption of railway services for a certain time....all this and more is a big headache for the Railways. Even they are a frustrated lot and need a solution to end this. In the past I am afraid all the possible suggestions and ideas which perhaps may have also been jointly presented by many organisations and individuals working in the interest of wildlife conservation have resulted in a BIG ZERO. Please refer to the statistics and the frequency of such accidents in the past (information with the Railway Ministry). Therefore despite the fact that there are other burning issues we also need to address this one on PRIORITY. Please act asap. Azam On 10/11/07, Pablo <pablo.tachil wrote: > > This is somethign I had come across during my years of elephant study. May > be it can be given a thought here. > > Many years ago, a line man (one who walks along the railway tracks on foot > checking for faults on the track) who was posted in jungle limits in Kerala > had used a novel method to ward off this issue. > 1) His pet dog who he had trained to man the lines and alert him if he > sighted any elephants close to the track. The lineman would then go with > crackers and chase them away. (Mind you years ago tigers also used to get > run over; now that we dont have that many tigers, you dont get to here of > them being run over) > 2) as he walked along the lines (many kilometers a day), he would carry a > tin case (a bigger version used to burn incense in churches) in which he > carried burning charcoal and constantly added chilli flakes. This had helped > him to keep elephants at bay. The smell of chilli lingered in the air and > for elephants whose sense of smell is very very sharp and can detect faint > traces from kilometers, probably served as a deterrent and got them to stay > away from tracks. > > Since I believe line men in India still manually monitor the tracks on > foot, in jungle areas this should be given a try. > > This apart, train drivers need to be monitored for their speed and also > they need to ensure they are sounding the horn at regular intervals. May > be a fine on the driver for running over an elephant would get him to be > more alert and move at permitted speeds through elephant corridors. > > Also since most of the railways runs on electricity, there is a possibilty > where we could step down the power and have multiple electric points to keep > elephants at bay. But with the track record of electric fences, this is > something I would hold as a last option. > > All these options can be considered to be practical and feasible by noting > what distance is run through jungle area. But then where there is a will > there is a way. > > Thanks, Pablo. > > > On 10/11/07, AZAM SIDDIQUI <azam24x7 wrote: > > > > A wild tusker hit by the Arunachal Express (metre gauge) train near > > Borjili tea estate, died slow death in excruciating pain along the railway > > tracks at Rangapara in Assam. The elephant was knocked down in the wee hours > > of Wednesday. > > > > To get a scanned newspaper image of the elephant contact me, as pictures > > or attachments are not entertained on AAPN. > > > > Azam > > > > -- > > Fight captive Jumbo abuse, end Elephant Polo > > http://www.stopelephantpolo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Folks there are technological solutions available right in our back yard. But we will soon see ourselves back on the same spot - will the government fund such projects? From sensors that can be mounted on the tracks which will relay back the speed and position of the trains to heat sensors which can detect movement close to the tracks to trip alarms that can warn the control room of animal movements along the tracks to automatic speed limiters which will ensure the train does not exceed a particular speed in that area..... its all there.... Like I said earlier, it alll depends on the fact wheather the government is willing to consider this as a case involving " unnecessary spending " or would they consider the lives of wild animals as valuable. I mean look at a point where a high speed train hits an animal like an elephant, derails and many people lose their lives. Before such unfortunate episodes happen, the government should take action. Will they and if yes when or wont they! the same question seems to haunt this episode too! But we have to make a start.....so lets delay no further. As you folks work on the petition, I will work with the science teams in Bangalore to propose the most practical and feasible solutions taking into consideration an Indian enviornment and this can then be proposed to the government. Thanks, Pablo. On 10/11/07, Cornwall's Voice For Animals <cvfa.uk wrote: > > *We must introduce something that will save these darlings - can we > petition the government or the head of the rail to impliment a safe place > which would become all involved and stop these horrid accidents from > happening - whatever you want me to do from here - I will do it and so will > others, if letters are required.* > ** > *This is just too sad and so unnecessary * Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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