A few days ago, the video of an elephant being almost butchered under a train in West Bengal went viral and created mass outrage. People questioned authorities¡¯ preparedness to save and protect wildlife that crosses rail tracks to get from one part of the forest to another. And that was not an isolated case. IFS officers on Twitter mentioned how it regularly happened? animals like elephants got struck by a fast moving train and died consequently.?
However, there are some loco drivers who are alert at all times and take all the measures to save the wildlife when they can.?
The official Twitter account of Alipurduar Division, N.F.Railway tweeted a video with the caption,
'Today morning at 8.30 hrs, #AlertCrew of 55726 Dn Sri Uttam Barua & D.D.Kumar suddenly noticed that a Wild Elephant was walking along the track at Km 71/7 betn NKB- CLD & stopped train immediately with Emergency brake'.
In the video that has now gone viral, one can see the train stopped in its tracks, waiting for the elephant to safely cross over to the other side.?
If it was not for the alertness of the driver, this elephant too would have been crushed to death, like the one who died painfully some days ago.?
For that, someone even started a change.org petition with the name ¡®Save North Bengal Animals from Train Accidents¡¯. This is the concern it voiced:?
'Year after year, we witness the animals getting smashed, run over by running trains in different stretches of North Bengal(Northern and North-eastern part of West Bengal) because of our ignorance and negligence'.
In the comments section, people have even requested that the loco driver be awarded for his presence of mind. Such awareness and prompt action can help save so many lives. Kudos to D.D Kumar for being literally on his toes.?