PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Dec 17: Rail traffic under the Chakradharpur Railway Division has once again been affected due to the frequent movement of wild elephants along forest-adjacent railway sections.
Prioritising passenger safety, the railway administration has decided to cancel five MEMU and passenger train services.
According to official sources, elephant movement has been reported on the Naugaon–Rourkela, Chakradharpur–Rourkela and Rourkela–Jharsuguda sections, which pass through identified elephant corridor zones.
In view of the increased activity of elephant herds near and across the tracks, several trains will remain cancelled on December 18 and 19.
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The cancelled trains include:
68025/68026 Chakradharpur–Rourkela–Chakradharpur MEMU
68043/68044 Tatanagar–Rourkela–Tatanagar MEMU
18175/18176 Hatia–Jharsuguda–Hatia MEMU
68029/68030 Rourkela–Jharsuguda–Rourkela MEMU
58151/58152 Badampahar–Bangriposi–Badampahar Passenger
Railway officials stated that elephant movement in these sections has intensified over the past few days, posing a serious risk to the safe operation of trains.
To prevent any untoward incident, services have been suspended as a precautionary measure.
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The Railway Protection Force is working in close coordination with the Forest Department to continuously monitor the situation.
While the cancellation is expected to cause inconvenience to daily commuters, students and office-goers, passengers have largely acknowledged that the decision is necessary in the interest of both human safety and wildlife conservation.
The railway administration has assured that services will be restored as soon as the situation normalises.