Union Ministry of Forest and Environment is set to take a series of measures to reduce elephant deaths caused by railway accidents. The Railways have been instructed to identify accident-prone zones. Union Minister of Forest and Environment Bhupender Yadav said this while addressing the media at Godava in Sunderbans, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, on Sunday. He said, in addition, District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police in the concerned areas have been directed to form WhatsApp groups to closely monitor the situation. Increasing the number of kunki (trained) elephants has also been recommended. The process for providing compensation to families of those killed in elephant attacks will be simplified.
The Union Minister criticized the state government’s role in improving infrastructure in the Sundarbans. He further criticized the West Bengal government’s lackadaisical approach to the MISHTI project, which aims at the socio-economic development in mangrove areas. Earlier, Shri Yadav attended the 22nd Steering Committee meeting of Project Elephant and the 28th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
