The Department of Wildlife Conservation has taken steps to prepare an action plan to minimize the damage caused to wild elephants due to wild elephant-train collisions.
The Ministry of Environment, the Department of Railways, the Department of Forest Conservation and the Central Environmental Authority are also scheduled to jointly implement this plan. Accordingly, it is reported that the following measures have been planned in the future.
Seven hilly areas have been identified from Galoya Railway Station to Hingurakgoda Railway Station, where wild elephants frequently collide with trains, and steps have been taken to remove the earthen mounds in those hilly areas,
Conduct awareness programs for the drivers of the Railway Department, station masters, engineers in charge of railway lines, and railway assistant drivers,
Update and improve the name boards at the places where wild elephants cross the railway,
Remove undergrowth up to 10-20 meters on both sides of the railway line so that the wild elephants that roam the winding places on both sides of the railway line can be seen by the train drivers from a distance,
The railway line from Galoya Junction to Kantale, where wild elephants completely cross, is about 20 km long, and the gaps between the sleepers on that railway line are filled with concrete stones to make it easier for wild elephants to move,
Make the railway lines so that the train drivers can see both sides of the railway line clearly Lighting an LED lamp with solar panels on the railway track,
Instead of the current locomotives on the Eastern Railways, introducing advanced train sets that can see the surroundings better and control the speed better and installing LED panels to inform drivers about controlling the speed of the train,
Completely closing the tube wells located on the left side of the railway track when moving from Habarana Railway Station towards Kantale and taking water from that point through the pipeline through the railway culvert and constructing water holes at appropriate places,
Constructing 2 tanks off the railway track in the forest reserve encountered when moving towards Kantale past Habarana Railway Station,
Providing welfare facilities to train drivers travelling on the Eastern Railway from Colombo to boost their mental level.
Last Tuesday, the General Manager of Railways, Additional General Manager of Railways, Assistant Director of Polonnaruwa Wildlife Zone and other government officials joined an observation tour on a railway trolley from Palugas Wewa Railway Station to Punani on the Eastern Line. The ongoing work related to this project was observed there.