Keonjhar: The state forest department has issued advisories to railway authorities to initiate corrective measures for protection of elephants getting killed on railway tracks.

Officials of the Keonjhar forest division and East Coast Railway held a discussion on Thursday to ensure the safety of these long-ranging animals who face the threat of being run over by trains.

"The 42km Daitary-Banshapala railway link meanders through the forest areas of the Keonjhar. The forested areas along the link are also elephant habitation corridors and falls in the animals' migration path. So safety of these animals has been prioritised in a coordinated manner with the railway," said Champua forest range officer Ghanashyam Barik.

The railway authorities have consented to imposing suitable speed restrictions at identified locations marked by the elephants' migratory path. Signage boards on identified corridors have already been installed to alert loco pilots. The elephant squad staff members who track the animals' movement along the rail line zones would inform the forest department control room, which in turn would alert the rail control room for speed control of passenger and goods trains. The railway has also been asked to reduce train speeds to 30km per hour along the migration corridor, a forest official said.

As both the railway and forest department are acting in coordination on these safety measures, the reports of elephants getting killed by trains are few and far between in Keonjhar. Two elephants were run over by a train on August 12, 2012, the last such instance in the district.

Keonjhar is home to 40 elephants according to the last census. The migration of elephants from Jharkhand to Keonjhar forests has become a recurring feature. "It's the migration path of these animals. Currently, 149 elephants are firmly ensconced in the forest. These animals have strayed here from Similpal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj district and Jharkhand. It's not humanly possible to prevent the elephants from straying. We are taking precautions to alert the people through our network of elephant squad to check man-elephant confrontations. Besides, the squads are keeping a close watch on their movement near the railway tracks," the forest ranger said.

The skilled service group of elephant chasers are also keeping a watch on the animals and are using Global Positioning System (GPS) to track their movements, he said.