Failure of U.P. govt.: Oppn. after tigress found dead on railway track in Dudhwa buffer zone

The Opposition targeted the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday over the death of a tigress in the Dudhwa buffer zone in Lakhimpur Kheri district.

The tigress, estimated to be about five to six years old, was hit by a train and found dead near the Bankeyganj-Mailani railway track in Mailani range of the buffer zone on Wednesday, forest officials said.

The officials added that an investigation has been ordered into the death.

State Congress president Ajay Rai said the incident highlighted the government’s “failure to adopt effective management and tracking policies of wild animals”.

“This is an unfortunate incident. There are established norms in buffer zones of forests that seem to have been violated in this case. We expect the authorities to take effective measures and make sure such incidents are not repeated,” Mr. Rai said.

Field director of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve H. Rajamohan and deputy director of the Dudhwa buffer zone Kirti Chaudhary inspected the accident spot.

“Investigation is in progress to identify the train that caused the accident and ascertain if it was following the speed limit prescribed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for trains passing through reserved forests with presence of wild animals,” Ms. Chaudhary said.

‘Internal bleeding’

Officials said a panel of veterinary doctors carried out the post-mortem as per the NTCA guidelines.

Daya Shankar, a member of the panel, said severe head injuries and internal bleeding led to the death of the tigress.