SUKNA (WB): West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee visited Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, a day before signing of the tripartite agreement on the contentious Darjeeling issue.
The locals entertained her with tea and told her about problems they face in the forest during her one-hour stay.
Banerjee was presented 'khada', a silk scarf for ceremonial occasions, by the locals.
The chief minister was accompanied by Trinamool leader and Union minister Mukul Ray and some journalists.
Coincidentally this place is also the site of numerous elephant accidents on train tracks.This 168-km stretch between Alipurduar and Asansol, on an average, takes the toll of five elephants every year and injures scores of other animals. In September last year, seven elephants were mowed down in an incident at this site. In another incident in November, a 10-ft tall n adult tusker was fatally wounded by a goods train in the Mahananda wildlife sanctuary between Gulma and Sevoke.
Naturist organizations and environmentalist have requested the Railways and departments concerned to stop running trains on this track during night hours and double the line (that passes through Jalpaiguri and Falakata) to minimize traffic on the Dooars track. "We suggested that if the trains run on a track parallel to this line, the conflict would minimize. But the Railways refused citing the reason that that the parallel line will not be able to take the load of trains that runs to and from Guwahati," said Animesh Basu, coordinator of Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation.
"The most tragic part of this is that the political parties are very much indifferent to the issue as the victims are not voters," he added.
Meanwhile, the forest department has started an extensive search operation in the adjacent areas to trace if any other elephant of the herd was injured on Saturday night. They have lodged a complaint with the Banerhat police station.
The rail line through the Dooars might have proved a boon for the area residents, but it has turned to be a curse for the wild lives. When this track was being converted into broad gauge in 2002, nature lovers had protested. The WWF had also filed a case in the Calcutta high court. But the court had given the permission and asked the railways to follow certain directives so that the line did not prove fatal for the animals. But the norms are hardly followed.
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