Priority not given to construction of underpass, overpass across railway tracks for elephant movement: CAG

They were also placed in incorrect position defeating their purpose of forewarning the drivers. Although steps were taken by both the Railways and the Forest Department, elephants continued to die on track.

Priority was not given by the Railways and forest departments to the construction of underpass and overpass across several railway tracks facilitating elephant movement, leading to casualties, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said in a report tabled in Lok Sabha.

In a press statement issued on Tuesday, the CAG said the audit, which was conducted during 2018-19, observed that precautionary measures like speed restriction were not being enforced in the notified elephant passages.

The audit report was tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday.

''Audit analysis of identified passages and elephant deaths on track revealed that more number of elephant casualties was reported in those locations which were identified as elephant passages,'' the statement stated.

It also said that 37 deaths occurred in the identified passages and 24 deaths occurred in the un-identified passages.

Audit observed that the forest department and Railways had not given priority to construction of underpass/overpass across railway tracks which facilitate elephant movement, it said.

''There was no uniformity in dimension, height, color, and content of the elephant signage boards in Indian Railways. They were also placed in incorrect positions defeating their purpose of forewarning the drivers. Honey bee sound devices were not installed in some of the Zonal Railways,'' the statement added.

According to it, Audit Report No 5 of 2021 'Union Government (Railways) – Compliance Audit' was laid on the table of Rajya Sabha on August 11 and in Lok Sabha on November 29.

The report stated that during 2016-17 to 2018-19, train collisions resulted in the death of 61 elephants.

The report consists of audit findings relating to compliance issues in respect of the Ministry of Railways and its various field units.

The findings are related to deficiencies and irregularities noticed during the audit over Indian Railways during the year 2018-19.

The CAG said a committee of senior officials of the Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Environment and Forests (Government of India, and governments of West Bengal and Odisha) was constituted in January 2013 to evolve an action plan for eliminating instances of elephant mortalities due to train hits.

The committee recommended short-term and long-term measures to prevent train-elephant collisions. Although steps were taken by both the Railways and the Forest Department, elephants continued to die on the track.

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