Guwahati, Jan. 6: An animal rights organisation today sent a letter to railway minister Mamata Banerjee urging her to take immediate steps to prevent killing of elephants by trains.

The move by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) followed the mowing down of four elephants by a goods train in Karbi Anglong on January 1, a few days after an elephant was killed on the tracks in Hojai on December 22.

“We all revere elephants as incarnations of Ganesha and it is heartbreaking to think that so many of these animals are dying agonising deaths as a result of preventable railway accidents,” Ashish Verma of Peta India said.

The recent tragedy was the latest in a long list of accidents on tracks that had killed several elephants and injured many more, the organisation said.

Elephant herds travel long distances in search of food along traditional migration routes.

“The presence of railways in protected areas around the country has caused the accidental deaths of wild elephants. Sadly, no suitable steps have been taken to protect these elephants from harm,” the letter said.

Peta said earlier it had raised the issue with Mamata’s predecessor Lalu Prasad but in vain.

It has recommended reducing trains’ speed in the forest areas, improving visibility, regulating garbage disposal, issuing notice “to trains” that have caused accidents in the past, asking the drivers to be watchful while passing through dense forests.

The Wildlife Trust of India along with the Assam forest department and the Northeast Frontier Railway have launched a project for joint patrol to prevent trains colliding with elephants after it was found that 37 per cent of elephant mortality in India have been recorded in Assam which is the highest in the country.

The project identified accident-prone sections along the railway network in Assam, to formulate and implement site-specific accident-preventive measures. Locations have been identified in Karbi Anglong, Deepor Beel, Goalpara and Digboi.

Teams from the railways and the state forest department have taken several joint initiatives like patrol along the critical tracks, erecting signboards for drivers, training and educating railway staff for understanding critical locations, importance of their timely actions and clearing the undergrowth to improve visibility in the sharp bends of the tracks.

“We will be adding new areas after we find that accidents are happening regularly in those areas,” an official of Wildlife Trust of India said.