Guwahati: In a tragic incident, seven elephants were killed when the Sairang-bound Rajdhani Express (Train No. 20507) collided with a herd of elephants in the Jamunamukh–Kampur section under the Lumding division of the N.F. Railway early Saturday morning. The impact caused the locomotive and five coaches to derail.
The accident took place around 2:15 am, about 126 km from Guwahati. Railway officials confirmed that no passengers were injured, though the collision proved fatal for the animals.
According to the N.F. Railway, the loco pilot applied emergency brakes upon sighting the herd, but the collision could not be avoided. Officials noted that the area is not categorised as an elephant corridor.
Accident relief trains and emergency teams were immediately deployed, while helplines were activated at Guwahati station to assist passengers: 0361-2731621 / 2731622 / 2731623. Passengers from the derailed coaches were shifted to vacant berths in other compartments.
After detaching the affected coaches, the train resumed its journey towards Guwahati at 6:15 am. Additional coaches will be attached in Guwahati before it proceeds to its destination.
Senior railway authorities, including the N.F. Railway General Manager and the Lumding Divisional Railway Manager, are at the accident site overseeing restoration and clearance work. Rail traffic through the affected section has been diverted via the UP line, and track restoration is underway.
The death of the seven elephants has intensified concerns over the long-standing issue of elephant–train collisions in Assam — a state that continues to report some of the highest such fatalities in India.
A government-backed study, Elephant Human Conflict in the State of Assam (2000–2023): Trends, Challenges and Insights, conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India and Project Elephant, reveals that between 2000 and 2023, 1,209 elephants died in Assam, with over half of the deaths attributed to direct human causes. During the same period, human–elephant conflict claimed 1,468 human lives and injured 337, marking Assam as one of the world’s most dangerous hotspots for such encounters.
Based on forest department records and land-use analysis across 21 forest divisions, the report highlights shrinking habitats and growing human pressures. Assam lost 12.7% of its forest cover over the study period, while urban areas expanded by 5.23%.
“The rise in conflicts is directly tied to deforestation, expanding human settlements, and the lure of high-energy crops like paddy,” the report states.
With traditional elephant corridors degraded or blocked, herds are increasingly moving through farmland and villages — particularly during the harvest season — where food and fatal risk often coexist.
Electrocution emerged as the leading cause of elephant deaths, accounting for 209 fatalities. Illegal electric fencing and poorly maintained power lines are identified as major contributors, with adult males disproportionately affected.
Other causes include accidental deaths (127), trench and canal falls (97), train collisions (67), poisoning (62), poaching (55), retaliatory killings (5), and vehicle collisions (4). High-risk districts include Nagaon, Sonitpur, Dhansiri, and Karbi Anglong East. Fatalities peak in the post-monsoon season, when elephants frequently enter human-dominated landscapes in search of food and water.
Adding to rising concern, a government report notes that Assam — despite being the most connected state in Northeast India by railway network — also accounts for the highest railway-linked biodiversity loss, particularly elephant deaths.
“Railway operations in Assam account for the highest impacts on biodiversity in terms of elephant mortality. The vast railway network often intersects wildlife habitats and movement pathways of wild elephants that occur outside protected areas. Consequently, train hits account for the second-highest cause of non-natural elephant mortality in the state,” another report states.
It further records the deaths of 115 elephants between 1990 and 2018, and at least 33 between January 2017 and March 2023, due to train collisions. The Northeast Frontier Railway zone alone accounted for 65 elephant deaths between 2014 and 2022.
The report stresses the urgent need for mitigation measures in both new and existing railway projects:
“While all new railway line construction projects passing through habitats and corridors of elephants and other wildlife must take mitigative actions, it is pertinent that measures to retrofit existing railway lines to mitigate the impacts of railway lines on elephants are taken proactively.”
The latest collision is likely to renew calls for enhanced surveillance, speed regulation, real-time monitoring, and technological interventions along vulnerable stretches of track in Assam.
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