AHMEDABAD: The forest department is celebrating World Lion Day 2023 with pomp, but it is dragging its feet on repairing the fencing along the railway track connecting Port Pipavav even two years after Cyclone Tauktae flattened it.
The 28km Pipavav-Rajula-Liliya-Savarkundla stretch has proved to be a killer for lions and cubs with many getting crushed under the goods trains going to Pipavav. The frequent accidents prompted the construction of fencing on this stretch as movements of 25-30 lions were frequently noticed between Rajula and Pipavav.
The department took two years to repair 12 km of fencing while the work in the remaining 16 is only ‘in progress.’ It claims to have saved 129 lions in a year on this track by driving them away when a train approached.
The other stretch is Savarkundla to Rajula where there is no fencing and lions are run over by trains.
A senior forest officer of the Gireast division said, “The discussions on fencing this stretch began in 2015-16 but every thing is still on paper only. Passenger trains are not adhering to the speed limits.” According to the standard operating procedure (SOP), the train speed should be less than 45 km per hour in the lion corridor outside the sanctuary area.
Aradhana Sahu, chief conservator of forest (wildlife circle), Junagadh said, “We are coordinating with the railways for technological intervention which would be better than fencing.”
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