Title - Tourists out, but trains still chug across Dudhwa tiger reserve

Tourists out, but trains still chug across Dudhwa tiger reserve
RAMENDRA SINGH
Posted: Aug 03, 2012 at 0333 hrs IST
Lucknow Concerned over the decreasing population of tigers in the country, on July 24 the Supreme Court had banned tourism inside core and buffer areas of tiger reserves. However, the issue of a meter gauge railway track that passes through the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve remains unresolved despite the longstanding demand of forest officials for its removal. Trains running on this track have killed several wild animals, including tigers and elephants.
Wildlife NGOs and UP Forests Department have been continuously demanding removal of the rail track from the tiger reserve over the past three decades, but the Railways has not taken any decision on it yet.

At present, as many as seven trains ply every day on the track, which connects Mailani town in Lakhimpur Kheri district with Gonda. The track passes through 41 km of the core area of tiger reserve inside Dudhwa National Park, 10 km of the core area of tiger reserve inside Kishanpur wildlife sanctuary and 36 km of the core area of tiger reserve inside Katarniaghat sanctuary.

Protected areas of Dudhwa National Park, Kishanpur wildlife sanctuary and Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary jointly form the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.

The trains are allowed to run at the maximum speed of 30 km per hour and the speed limit is 20 km per hour in areas which are accident-prone.

Dudhwa National Park Deputy Director Ganesh Bhatt said more than 70 animals of Dudhwa, including tigers and elephants, have been killed by the trains running on the track in the last 10 years.

He said the latest was the death of a tiger in Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in May. The tiger was found injured after being hit by a train or a bus (there are roads also) by the forest officials and died after a few days, he said. Bhatt said more than tourists, the trains are dangerous for the animals of the park. There are no villages inside the tiger reserve but still passenger trains are plying, he added.

Bhatt said the trains have not only killed several animals inside the forest area, the railway track has also divided the forest into two parts, restricting the movement of animals inside the jungle.

Besides the railway track, there are two roads — Palia-Gauri Phanta road inside Dudhwa National Park and Motipur-Katarniaghat road inside Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary — which pass through core areas of the tiger reserve. The roads have also caused several deaths of wild animals, said Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary Deputy Director RK Singh.

The issue is always raised after the death of animals but no action is initiated on the part of higher authorities, said former UP Principal Chief Conservator of Forests(Wildlife) RS Bhadauria. He said the track was laid in the 19th century by the British for transportation of timber from Nepal forests and from the forests on the border. Now, there is no timber transportation by Railways, as the jungles on the other side of the border are finished. In any case, the contractors prefer to use trucks. It was sheer inertia on the part of higher authorities that no decision on removing the track has been taken, he added.

“The first time, I had taken up the issue with railway authorities in 1984 when I was additional chief wildlife warden. Since then, several letters have been sent by the state government, several meetings were held between railway and forest officials but nothing has convinced the Railways to remove the track and lay a diversion track outside the park,” said Bhadauria.

The state government had last time raised a strong demand for the removal of the track in 2008 after a tiger was killed after being hit by a train in Katerniaghat.

North-Eastern Railway spokesman Amit Singh said they had already fixed the speed limit for the trains plying on the route and no accidents have been reported in the last three years as railway officials follow all safety measures. However, the decision about laying the diversion track will be taken by the Railway Board, he added.

Shailesh Prasad, Field Director of Dudhwa National Park, said meetings between NER and forest officials are held on routine basis to discuss the railway track. He said the latest one was held a few months back when J S Asthana was chief wildlife warden to review the safety measures. However, the removal of track remains a “management need” for forest officials, Prasad said.