Southern Rly. to construct underpasses to prevent elephant deaths between T.N., Kerala

Tells Madras HC that 24 elephants had died on the tracks between Coimbatore and Palakkad from 1978 to 2021

The Southern Railway on Friday informed the Madras High Court that 24 elephants had died on the railway tracks between Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in Kerala from 1978 to 2021 and hence it had taken elaborate measures including proposed construction of two underpasses at a cost of ₹7.49 crore to prevent such deaths.

In a report filed before Justices V. Bharathidasan and N. Sathish Kumar, who were seized of a 2018 writ petition on the issue, the railway administration said the General Manager of Southern Railway had forwarded a proposal to the Railway Board on December 16 to construct the two underpasses across the railway tracks in Tamil Nadu.

Southern Railway counsel P.T. Ramkumar said 12 elephants (including five calves) had died in 10 railway track accidents that took place in Kerala since 2002 and that an equal number of elephants had died on the Tamil Nadu side in nine accidents since 1978. Hence, the railway administration had imposed speed restrictions for the trains.