“In an earlier meeting with the forest and environment ministry it was decided that the state forest department would alert us about elephant movement. If necessary we will stop trains. But on our own it is not possible to check where elephants are moving," Mamata said on Tuesday.
She did not spare Union forest and environment minister Jairam Ramesh either. In a veiled attack, Mamata said: “I have a ministry to run. I do not interfere in other people's business and would not like others to interfere in mine."
She added, however, that she was “extremely saddened" by the incident. “I, too, am a wildlife lover. There are dedicated corridors for elephant movement and the railways tries to be as careful as it can. But we have to move freight on this route," she said.
Forest officials finally managed to approach the tusker on Tuesday and treated some of his wounds.“The elephant has suffered horrific injuries, including a gash in his shoulder so deep that you can stick a full-sized coconut in it," said Tapas Das, DFO, WL I, Darjeeling division. Read the full report here.
Source: Times News Network, Siliguri/Kolkata.
