Train driver gets jail for killing jumbos

[Mrudul Godbole]

At last some action taken against animal killings..

Train driver gets jail for killing jumbos
November 27, 2010 2:39:11 PM

PNS | Dehradun

Wildlife lovers in India have reason to cheer. In the first judgement of its kind, a local court here has awarded three years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) to a train driver for running over three elephants 12 years ago. The pachyderms were crossing a railway track passing through Rajaji National Park when the accident occurred.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Kunwar Amanendra Singh on Thursday slapped a fine of `10,000 on Vijay Pal besides sentencing him to three years in jail after finding him guilty of violating the permissible speed limit of 30 km per hour in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, which led to the accident in September 1998.

This is the first such case in the country when a train driver has been convicted for driving the locomotive at a speed higher than the permissible limit and killing wild animals, prosecution counsel SD Pant has claimed. Several wild animals are injured or killed each year after being hit by trains on the tracks that pass through national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the country, he added.

A cow elephant and its calves were killed after being hit by the Janata Express, driven by Vijay Pal, when they were crossing the Dehradun-Haridwar railway track in the Kansaro range of the park along with other members of a large herd. The incident took place on September 28, 1998.

The prosecution argued that Pal was not only driving the train at a speed of 60-70 km per hour, but also did not apply brakes despite seeing the elephants on the track ahead.

On Friday, the Haridwar district second civil judge sentenced a poacher to two years in jail and ordered him to pay a `2,000 fine. A resident of Hazra Grant area of the district, Liyakat had been arrested with deer antlers in his possession from the Dhaulkhand area of Rajaji National Park in 2004.

Even though the court handed out the sentence nearly five years after the culprit was arrested, wildlife activists have responded positively to the verdict, saying that it would help deter poachers and small-time wildlife smugglers.

Article at - http://www.dailypioneer.com/299498/T...ng-jumbos.html

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Frankly speaking this comes as a pleasant surprise. Amidst the doom and gloom, this gives us a ray of hope. The train drivers and the railways will now wake up to the gravity of their actions.

However, the question is why punish only the train driver? Why not the railways for the inaction over the years? The railways can always avoid this tragedy by creating alternate alignments in such sensitive places. If the Railways can stop plying the trains in the night in naxalite infested places, they can certainly stop plying trains in the night when the visibility is poor, they can reduce the speeds to 15-20kms per hour in the route, and definitely can create alternate alignments.

I am sure the Railway minister have to show maturity and concern. She is a dynamic individual and if she is convinced, then definitely things can improve. At the moment, it appears that the she is not being properly briefed. Some pressure from the courts can definitely come as a boon to the rapidly declining status of our National Heritage animal.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Lakshminarayanan Nataraja]

Better late than never. There will be protests and processions from the Railways over this judgement. Nevertheless, this landmark judgement will invoke some fear and sense of responsibility for the Railway staff.

Hope the same sort of punishment is meted out to other employees who were behind similar incidences that took place in rest of the country

[Bibhav Behera]

A very nice move. agree better late than never. Im sure this will add some pressure on the railways. Im not saying that we can directly stop this in one swipe, but taking small baby steps towards a well defined goal will one day definitely yield results...