Two elephants, including one pregnant, were killed when two goods trains knocked them in Assam and West Bengal on Thursday, prompting the Northeast Frontier Railway to alert all animal corridors, officials said.
NFR chief public relations officer Sabyasachi De said the first incident happened in between Chalsa-Nagrakata section under Alipurduar division in West Bengal around 2.40 am. The second incident took place at 7.10 am in the Digaru–Panbari section under Lumding division in Assam, he added.
"Railways has taken serious note of these incidents and alerted all the elephant corridors within the NFR area. However, these two sections were beyond the notified elephant corridors," De said.
Another senior official told PTI that the jumbo that died in Alipurduar was pregnant. De claimed that these two sections were not covered by the Intrusion Detection System even though the ministry of railways has sanctioned Rs 77 crore for covering most of the elephant corridors within the NFR. "Railways is committed and is always ready to take measures towards the protection of wild elephants," he added.
