The quick thinking of a train driver saved the life of a wild elephant which suddenly appeared on the railway track. A video has now surfaced online showing an intercity express train slowing down to let the elephant cross railway track.
The clip shared by Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Alipurduar Division, Northeast Frontier Railway shows a wild elephant crossing a railway track. The train heads forward and sound of brake being applied is heard. The pachyderm crosses the track unhurt as the train slows down.
The DRM noted that the intercity express train from Siliguri Junction to Alipur Duar was manoeuvred by R R Kumar, loco pilot and S Kundu, Assistant Loco Pilot. The incident happened on Wednesday at 5:35 pm between Gulma and Sivok.
Watch the video here:
#Alert LP & ALP of 15767 Up SGUJ-APDJ Intercity Exp Sri R.R. Kumar & S. Kundu suddenly noticed one Wild Elephant crossing the track at KM 23/1 between Gulma-Sivok at 17.35 hrs yesterday & applied brake to control Train speed saving Wildlife. @wti_org_india@RailMinIndia @RailNf pic.twitter.com/12PC5ffTqO
— DRM APDJ (@drm_apdj) May 12, 2022
“LP & ALP of 15767 Up SGUJ-APDJ Intercity Exp Sri R.R. Kumar & S. Kundu suddenly noticed one Wild Elephant crossing the track at KM 23/1 between Gulma-Sivok at 17.35 hrs yesterday & applied brake to control Train speed saving Wildlife. @wti_org_india@RailMinIndia@RailNf,”read the caption of the clip.
Netizens appreciated the loco pilot for his alertness. “Very Intelligent Driver # NO HORN Was a Splended Presence of Mind,” commented a user.
I felt very happy when I saw this post I congratulate and my best wishes to both LP &ALP
— Durga Vyboina (@durga1143) May 13, 2022
Very Intelligent Driver # NO HORN Was a Splended Presence of Mind
— xavier michael (@joylifein10) May 13, 2022
Trains should run at a slower speed while crossing jungleshttps://t.co/cTf0EK0ZuC https://t.co/geWE6BD7Hh
— The Wildlife India (@TheWildlifeInd) May 12, 2022
Notably, in March this year, a male elephant walking along a railway track was hit by a train near Navakarai, under Madukkarai forest range, on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border. The elephant was hit by the Tiruvanandhapuram–Chennai Express on March 15 around 1.30 am when it attempted to drink water from the Walayar river.
In addition, Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav had told the Lok Sabha in March this year that 19 elephants were killed across the country on railway tracks in 2018-19, 14 in 2019-20 and 12 in 2020-21.
