The Hindu : National : Plea for slow trains to save Dudhwa tigers

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Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008
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Plea for slow trains to save Dudhwa tigers

Atiq Khan

LUCKNOW: A 60-km stretch of railway track passing through the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh has been identified as one that has maximum tiger movement during night. The State Government has suggested that trains slow down on this stretch.

In the latest such instance, a male tiger was run over by the Mailani-Gonda passenger train on September 5 near the Manjha Purbi railway halt on this stretch, forcing the government to take up the issue with the Ministry of Railways.

Principal Secretary (Forest) Shailesh Krishna said the sensitive areas along the 60-km stretch were being identified on the basis of pug marks and other telltale signs of tiger movement. The Ministry would be asked to reduce speeds, especially during the night, based on relevant sections of the Wildlife Act.

Where the tiger was killed this month, the train was reportedly moving at a speed of 55 km an hour. North Eastern Railway officials here said the Gonda-Mailani passenger had slowed down when the accident occurred.

Since 2001, five tigers have been killed by running trains in the park area. Two tiger cubs were killed on May 1, 2001 and August 26, 2001 in the Katarniaghat Wildlife Division. A female tiger was killed on March 22, 2005 and a male on September 5, 2008. A female was killed in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve on April 14-15, 2006.

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