Rajkot: Thank you for reminding the train crew, the four lives of the lion was saved last week because he ran in the Pipavav of Pipavav-Kabula Track in the Amreli district.
Unfortunately, the Ministry of Forestry failed to project the same level of enthusiasm shown by humans in the protection of lions because they had not fixed the fence on the busiest railway line which had been damaged during Tauktae Typhoon in May.
“On September 16, Loco Pilot S K Sinha saw four lions on track between Savarkundla and Mota Liliya around 7.50 in the afternoon amid darkness and immediately applying emergency brakes.
The manifestation and action on time saved lions,” said a statement issued by the train.
Bhavnagar Division of Western Railway stated that his crew had saved life 75 lions since April 2020 by stopping the train for hours in this section which had the maximum frequency of trains because of the pipavav port.
Nearly 25 trains passed on this route in a day, even in the middle of limited speed, most of them are train goods and many double decker trains.
According to the train authority, there were 52 incidents on 2020-21 and 23 at 2021-22 (until September) the lion that entered without permission beyond the trace or look close to the track.
However, according to the sources of the Ministry of Forestry, the fence has been established around the railway line to prevent a lion that is lost to the trail path that is severely damaged during a recent Typan on a stretch of 8 to 10 km which has made a lion dispons easily on the track.
D T T Vasavda Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife Division) told Tii, “I have asked my staff to give me a report about cyclone damage and based on that we will repair the fence.”