The Hindu : Front Page : UP asks Railways to remove killer track

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Tuesday, Sep 09, 2008
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UP asks Railways to remove killer track

Atiq Khan

LUCKNOW: The death of a tiger on the railway track near Manjha Purbi halt on the Mailani-Gonda rail section in Katerniaghat Wildlife Division in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh this past Friday has evoked a strong reaction from the State Government.

Apart from FIRs being lodged against the driver and guard of the train and the Assistant Station Master of Manjha Purbi railway station by the State Forest Department, the Government is insisting that the Union Railway Ministry remove the railway line from the entire stretch of Dudhwa National Park and Katerniaghat Wildlife Division.

The issue threatens to snowball into a major point of contention between the UP Government and the Union Railway Ministry considering that the matter of the railway line and the speed of the trains thereon has been hanging fire since the 1990s.

Starting from Mailani Junction in Lakhimpur Kheri district till it reaches Gonda, the rail track -- which cuts across the National Park and Katerniaghat -- is about 200 km long.The tiger was killed this past weekend by the 194 Down Mailani-Gonda Passenger. According to forest officials, the train was moving at a speed of 55 km per hour at the time as against the permissible speed of 15 km an hour in the sensitive area of the forest. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden (UP) B.K. Patnaik said the speed of the trains has to be closely monitored by the Railway authorities till the railway line is removed from the forest area. Mr. Patnaik, who visited the scene of accident on Monday, told The Hindu the fact that the tiger was dragged for about 800 metres suggested that the train might have been moving at a speed beyond the permissible limit.

“Blood stains of the dead tiger were found on the track,” said the Chief Wildlife Warden. He confirmed that the Railways would be asked to remove the track.

Case against driver, guard

The lead in this regard was taken by State Forest Minister Fateh Bahadur Singh. Mr. Singh not only instructed the officials to file a case against the driver, guard and the ASM, the Principal Secretary (Forests), Shailesh Krishna, has been asked to write to the Railway Board to remove the rail line.When contacted, the Divisional Railway Manager, North-Eastern Railway (Lucknow Division), Ashima Singh, said the decision has to be taken by the UP Government and the Ministry. She said when the accident took place near Manjha Purbi station the train was moving at a speed of 14 km hour.

“The speed of the trains is reduced in the forest area,” she said. The DRM said 28 trains move on the rail track, though their number has been curtailed now on account of floods in the region.

The issue pertaining to reduction in the speed of the trains was taken up by former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh with the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in a letter dated May 22, 2006. Mr. Singh asked Mr. Prasad that the speed of the trains should be reduced on the 33-km stretch in Dudhwa National Park and Tiger Reserve.

On the flip side, the railway line and the trains afford the only mode of transportation for the local population, considering that the road infrastructure is in a pathetic state.

“Besides, the sugar produced by the mills in Palia Kalan, Gola Gokarnath and Pilibhit is loaded on the trains moving on the Mailani-Gonda line and trans-shipped at Gonda,” said Ms. Singh. The high embankment on which the rail line has been laid also serves the dual purpose of warding off the threat from the rampaging Sharda and Suheli rivers, which are currently in spate, added the Railway official.

Since 1993, as many as 29 wild animals have been killed by speeding trains in Dudhwa National Park and Tiger Reserve.

Elephants, spotted deer, hog deer, fishing cat, crocodile and sloth bear were the other animals killed in Dudhwa.Thirteen animals, including tiger cubs, spotted deer, blue bulls and tiger have been killed in Katerniaghat by fast-moving trains since 2000.

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