Haldwani (Uttarakhand): In yet another tragic death of a wild animal, an elephant was crushed to death by a moving train while a baby elephant was injured in the mishap in Tanda range in Haldwani district of Uttarakhand, officials said on Thursday. An official said that a male elephant was crossing the railway track when it was hit by an electric powdered train engine going at high speed near the crematorium on the Lalkuan Bareilly railway track in Lalkuan Kotwali area.
In the incident, the elephant died at the spot while a seven-year-old baby elephant walking with the elephant has been seriously injured. Gaula Range Forest Officer Chandan Singh Adhikari, who reached the spot, along with the Forest Department team, conducted a rescue operation and rescued the injured baby elephant.
The injured baby elephant is being treated at a local facility. Since the deceased elephant was in the Tanda range of Terai Central, the department's team is deployed at the spot to conduct a probe into the incident. The department is preparing for the post-mortem of the elephant's body. The repeated incidents of elephant deaths have raised questions over the functioning of the concerned departments including the Railway Administration and the Forest Department.
The incidents are occurring despite the speed limit of the trains operating in the area and the patrolling teams of the forest department personnel. A week ago, an elephant had died after being hit by a train in the state. Pertinently, in September this year, a RTI application reply had revealed that as many as 1,357 elephants have died across the country in the last 14 years.
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