“People For Animals” stop trains to protest against animals’ killings in Dooars forest region
By ANISaturday, June 5, 2010
SILIGURI - People For Animals (PFA), a non governmental organization of north Bengal, on Saturday blocked the movement of the two trains, as they wanted to draw public attention to the death of animals caused by speeding trains in the Dooars forest region.
The activists want the local authorities to undertake preventive measures to save their lives.
Two elephants have been killed in just two days recently in the Dooars forest of Jalpaiguri region.
“In North Bengal’s Dooars region, wild elephants and bison are getting killed by trains. These kinds of incidents are rising day by day. We are very much worried by this. To protest about these killing we have stopped Kanchankanya train at Siliguri junction,” said Siliguri unit’s People for Animal spokesperson Rajkumar Sharma.
The railways have been asked to maintain a speed limit of 25 kilometres per hour in an area of 45 kilometers that has been marked as elephant zone.
“We are from People For Animals (PFA) organization and we are here to give memorandum to Siliguri station area manager. Leaving elephant corridor in jungle area fencing should be done, high power search light facility should be provide at night, and beside human patrolling train speed should be reduced to 20 km in the region, these are our demands. If our demands are not met so in coming days we will intensify the protest with other organizations,” said Sharma.
The rail track was laid along the 65-kilometer stretch of the Doars region from Sevoke to Alipurduar region in 2004 and since then 17 elephants have been killed.
Wild elephants, in search of food, usually attack agricultural fields in the forest villages, forcing the villagers to put electric fencing around their lands.
Experts claim that massive deforestation; poaching and people encroaching upon forest corridors have forced elephants to move out of their natural habitats in search of food and water.
Over 50 per cent of Asiatic elephants, considered to be among the most intelligent animals, live in India. (ANI)
