Alert loco pilots of goods and passenger trains braked in time to save the lives of eight lions that roamed the railway tracks in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district in the past two days, an official said on Sunday.
With the vigilance of loco pilots of Bhavnagar division of Western Railway and the help of forest department trackers, 104 lions have been rescued so far this financial year, said Masook Ahmed, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Bhavnagar.
According to the release, Loco pilot Dhawalbhai P, who was driving a freight train from Hapa to Pipavaw port on Thursday, saw five lion tracks crossing near Rajula town.
An alert loco pilot applied emergency brakes to stop the train and provide safe passage to the big cats, it said.
The statement said that the forest guard reached the spot and after finding that everything was normal, the train was allowed to proceed.
Similarly, the loco pilot Sunil Pandit, who was driving the passenger train on Friday, saw a lion with two cubs crossing the track on the Chalala-Dhari section and stopped the train by applying emergency brakes.
“On receiving the information, forest guards reached the spot. He saw the lions moving away from the train tracks. When all conditions were found to be normal, the forest guard asked the loco pilot to leave,” the statement said.
Concerned that Asiatic lions have either died or been seriously injured on the railway line connecting Pipavav port with north Gujarat, the Gujarat High Court has directed authorities to come up with a standard operating procedure (SOP) to avoid such incidents.
The Bhavnagar division has directed the loco pilots operating the trains to follow the prescribed speed and work with extra vigilance, the statement said.
To prevent lions from getting hit by trains, the state forest department has fenced the track at regular intervals.
Why should you buy our membership?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be confused and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package