Train snuffs out another jumbo life

The Colombo-Kankesanthurai express train derailed at Kanagarayankulam, Vavuniya yesterday morning after colliding with an elephant.

Although passengers escaped unharmed in the accident, the elephant was killed. The wildlife officials removed the carcass.

Environmentalists claim that a number of areas where elephants cross railway lines have been identified and successive governments have tried to solve the issue unsuccessfully.

Sajeewa Chamikara of the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) told The Island that Trincomalee – Anuradhapura-Habarana and the stretch between Madu and Mannar were also areas where similar accidents took place regularly.

“We have tried many short term solutions. For example there is a proposal to fix a horn to scare away elephants, a proposal to implement speed limits and to take wildlife officers in trains. All these measures have failed.”

Chamikara said that one of the best solutions to the perennial problem was to elevate the railway track in identified areas of traditional elephant crossing so that the poor animals could pass such places unharmed underneath the track.

“We can do this with electric fences. After a while the elephants would get used to it. We don’t need to elevate the track for miles. That can be done only in areas where train-elephant accidents are frequent.”