The increasing number of cases of elephants who get killed on railway tracks are on the rise, and the Indain Railways has recently started an initiated to solve the problem. They have imposed strict restrictions on speed limit at several stretches of North Eastern tracks where the problem is on the rise. The stretches where trains will slow down include 62 identified elephant corridors.
Railway data shows that 70 elephants have died after being hit by trains since 2013. Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) and the forest department records say train-hits killed 16 elephants in 2016, and at least a dozen last year.
Vidyut Jammwal who is an animal lover, who also plays a elephant loving vet who is set out to uncover a deadly poaching racket in his upcoming film ‘Junglee’, took to Twitter to laud the efforts to protect the elephants.
He wrote, “Congratulations to everyone behind this initiative, thank you @RailMinIndia @RailNf & @PiyushGoyal ji for being so thoughtful about the lives of our ELEPHANTS! This sure will help us save the mighty giants from tragedies in future”
‘Junglee’ is a family adventure film which revolves around the unique friendship between a man and elephant, adds Vidyut. Directed by Hollywood filmmaker Chuck Russell and produced by Junglee Pictures, the film is set to release on October 19, 2018.