3 Elephants Crushed by Train in Jhargram, 13 Overall in Junglemahal Since 2007

Forest officials said that just hours before the accident, forest officials had warned of elephant movement on the tracks to the railways

- BISWABRATA GOSWAMI

Thirteen dead elephants! Seven deadly train collisions and 17 years of apathy. The forests of Bengal's Junglemahal are fast turning into graveyards for elephants, as steel tracks cut ruthlessly through their ancient migratory paths.

In the latest horror, three more elephants—an adult and two calves—were torn apart by the Barbil-Howrah Janshatabdi Express near Banshtala railway gate in the early hours of Friday, barely hours after forest officials had warned of elephant movement on the tracks. The deaths are not accidents anymore—they are the predictable consequence of a system that has turned blind to its own failures.

Despite every warning, every past tragedy, and every review meeting, the elephants of Junglemahal continue to pay with their lives, crushed under the wheels of indifference.

On Friday, the Barbil-Howrah Janshatabdi Express (12022), hurtling through Jhargram's dense forests around 1 a.m., collided with the herd of 10 that was attempting to cross from Manikpara range towards Sipaibandh. The violent collision shredded the night's silence, leaving behind dismembered carcasses strewn across the tracks. Hours before, at 10:45 p.m. on Thursday, the forest department had alerted the railways about the movement of elephants in the vicinity and requested speed control measures—a warning that was ignored with fatal consequences.