Jumbo Gift to North Bengal

Railways’ jumbo gift to N Bengal: Rs 300 crore for doubling of tracks

KOLKATA:There is finally some good news for wildlife enthusiasts in the forests of North Bengal. The ministry of railways has allotted Rs 300 crore towards doubling of tracks in the New Jalpaiguri-New Cooch Behar-Samuktala Road route in the 2014-15 railway budget tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. 

Once the tracks are doubled, more trains can be diverted from the New Jalpaiguri-Bagdogra-New Mal Jn-Nagrakata-Hasimara-Alipurduar Junction route that runs through the forests of North Bengal and accounts for the largest number of elephant deaths in the country. 

As many as 20 pachyderms died in this stretch due to collision with trains since 2013, forest department officials said. The last incident was reported on July 1 when a special military train slammed into two jumbos — a mother and a calf — between Hasimara and Hamiltongunj, killing them on the spot. Official records reveal that between 2004 and 2013, as many as 44 elephants were killed by trains in the forests of the Dooars. 

"This is very encouraging. The government has sanctioned Rs 160 crore for the 36.52 km Ambari Falakata-New Moynaguri stretch. In addition, Rs 140 crore has been sanctioned for the 29.02 km New Cooch Behar-Samuktala Road stretch. Now, the projects will be reviewed and timeframes set. Work can now start in earnest," said Sugato Lahiri, CPRO, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR). With these sanctions, the ministry of railways has cleared the bulk of the estimated cost for doubling of the stretch. Now, a mere Rs 107.55 crore is pending of the Rs 529.89 crore that the project is estimated to cost. 

"This was a long pending demand. After doubling is completed, trains can be diverted and elephant deaths can be checked," said chief wildlife warden Ujjal Bhattacharya. 

Siliguri or New Jalpaiguri is connected to Alipurduar through two railway routes. One of these is the 168km link that passes through Bagdogra, New Mal Jn, Nagrakata and Hasimara. 

After 2003, this became a broad gauge section and now passes through nearly 74 km across three protected areas and the buffer zone of the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) as well as nine well-established elephant corridors. The forested areas include the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Kalimpong Forest Division, forested areas of Tondu (Chalsa) between the Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary and Gorumara National Park, the Diana Reserve Forest including Moraghat and Banarhat, Jaldapara Wildlife Reserve and Buxa Tiger Reserve. The other route to New Alipurduar is through Falakata and New Cooch Behar and this doesn't pass through forests. 

As the New Jalpaiguri-New Cooch Behar-New Alipurduar stretch is a single-line one, it is congested and more trains have to be run through the forests. Though speed restrictions are there, the vulnerable stretches aren't too well-defined and elephants can't be expected to strictly adhere to boundaries of corridors. The route through the forest can be used by passenger trains that have frequent stoppages and primarily run during the day. 

After the accident on July 1, NFR took a decision to divert the Sampark Kranti Express through the New Jalpaiguri-New Cooch Behar-New Alipurduar route from September 1. Foresters believe that nearly 85% of elephant deaths can be prevented if night movement of trains is restricted through the forests. 

Based on studies conducted, nine high risk, vulnerable zones have been identified. These are the 7.9km stretch between Gulma and Sevoke, 4.2km between Sevoke and Bagrakote station, 1.3 km stretch between Damdim station and New Mal Jn, 3km stretch between Chapramari rail gate and Jaldhaka river, 0.6km between Chengmari station and Banarhat Jn, 1.5km between Banarhat and Binnaguri, 0.5 km between Binnaguri station and Dalgaon station, 2.4 km between Madarihat and Hasimara and 6 km between Dima railway gate and Damanpur.

Source: TOI