Post incident report: Emergency response-dealing with a wild rogue elephant in Chittaranjan township reg.
On 26.08.2007, a wild rogue elephant strayed into Chittaranjan Township. The details of the incident in chronological order are as under: -
· At around 0645 hrs, Sr.Commandant received the information through his driver that one wild rogue elephant has entered the CHITTARANJAN Township chased by 200-250 villagers of Jamtara district who were chasing it by sounding of drums etc.
· That the elephant had strayed from its herd two days back and after that had gone on rampage killing one old woman and destroying substantial property in Phulberia village of Dist Jamtara, Jharkhand.
· The elephant was spotted near street 1D of Township when information poured in.
· Sr.Commandant immediately informed his subordinates to move to the spot, informed police and then informed Deputy General Manager/CHITTARANJAN LOCO WORKS at around 0700 hrs.
· The villagers left CHITTARANJAN LOCO WORKS after leaving the elephant here at around 0730 hrs.
· Deputy General Manager immediately started contacting forest officials, spoke to the DFO and requested for mobilization for forest officials.
· PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER was fortunately in ASANSOL. On the instructions of Deputy General Manager, he contacted and mobilized forest officials. Assistant Range Officer with his staff with equipments like shotgun, searchlights (02 nos) etc started from ASANSOL by a vehicle sent by Deputy General Manager from CHITTARANJAN.
· Forest officials from Rupnarayanpur office also started for CHITTARANJAN at around 0900 hrs.
· Meanwhile, the elephant had taken shelter in a grove beside a water body near Karnail Singh Park.
· By 0930, Deputy General Manager, Sr.Commandant and PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER were on the spot. The place was crowded by onlookers and media persons. The RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE personnel were trying to keep them at bay.
· The forest officials told that they will only operate after sunset. They requested CHITTARANJAN LOCO WORKS administration to arrange for crackers in sufficient quantity.
· Deputy General Manager meanwhile drafted the alert message to be circulated through cable network as well as through mobile public address system.
· A vehicle sent to bring forest officials with mashals etc broke down near Dabur more.
· Sr.Commandant immediately told INSPECTOR/RPF/TM to mobilize resources locally and arrange for 40 mashals.
· Seeing the crowd, Sr.Commandant gave instructions to mobilize additional force and make available Walkie-talkies in sufficient number.
· Sr.Commandant also instructed his subordinates to make available searchlights (03) in charged condition at 1600 hrs.
· The crowd was kept at a distance from the beast. However, due to curiosity of the onlookers, RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE found it very difficult and had to chase the crowd frequently.
· At 1630 hrs forest officials started lighting crackers. Agitated, the elephant moved from the location and came on the road.
· Deputy General Manager, Sr.Commandant, PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER, forest personnel, RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE personnel and some enthusiastic residents pursued the elephant. The plan was to direct the elephant towards the route that it had taken while making entry.
· The plan went haywire as the elephant turned and charged towards the pursuers twice.
· Meanwhile the darkness fell. Mashals were lighted.
· The elephant climbed the hillock near the Karnail Singh Park and moved towards Simjuri.
· It was difficult to locate the elephant in dark. However, two RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff kept the officials posted regarding the movement of the elephant.
· Deputy General Manager, Sr.Commandant and PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER kept pursuing the elephant helped by RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff in sizeable numbers.
· The forest staff declined to move since topography was unknown to them and they could not do much in darkness.
· By 2000 hrs, stock of mashals exhausted. But the team succeeded in directing the animal towards Ajoy River bed in Simjuri.
· By 2130 hrs, again received information that the animal had resurfaced behind Treatment Plant. Meanwhile, Sr.Commandant instructed Inspectors under him to draw weapons only to be used for self defense. Sr.Commandant himself drew a pistol.
· The animal was pursued again towards a nullah behind the treatment plant. It was thought that now the animal would leave CHITTARANJAN.
· At 2200 hrs information was received that the animal was spotted near Children Park. It created panic since the animal was now moving towards crowded areas.
· The animal was then pursued and it moved from Children Park to loco park, GM office gates, GENERAL STORES DEPOT, Plant Park damaging boundary walls, fencing wires and gates.
· At 0125, the situation was reviewed by Deputy General Manager and Sr.Commandant. It was felt that the team was tired, short of resources and was no longer able to control the movement of the animal. It was decided to call off the operation for the day.
· Sr.Commandant made back up arrangements for the night by deploying a tracking team that will keep track of the animal and inform the security control about it from time to time. Keeping in view the busy traffic in the morning, Sr.Commandant deployed additional RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff to block movement of people all around the area in which the elephant was located.
· Deputy General Manager kept the GM informed about the developments all along. In consultation with the GM, he decided to close the railway schools next day in view of the emergency.
· The operation was suspended at 0145 hrs.
· The tracking team kept track of elephant during the night. It moved from GENERAL STORES DEPOT towards Fatehpur and took shelter in the grove near river bed behind the Treatment Plant.
· The morning started normally since the animal was cornered in an uninhabited area. Sr.Commandant sent reinforcement to the place since crowd of curious onlookers had started gathering there.
· Meanwhile the GM/CHITTARANJAN LOCO WORKS took up the matter with the Principal Conservator of Forests/West Bengal. Sensing the seriousness, DFO started for the spot.
· It was planned to push the elephant towards village Bhaga (Jharkhand) all along the river bed without allowing it to stray into colonies.
· However, again the forest officials declined to start operation before sunset.
· Frustrated, Sr.Commandant told RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff to keep the elephant confined to the river bed by sounding canisters, drums etc. He also asked to chase the onlookers away.
· At 1245 hrs, Sr.Commandant was informed that the crowd had swelled to unmanageable proportions and RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff on duty were finding it difficult to exercise crowd control. Immediately, Sr.Commandant ordered for reinforcement and moved to the spot.
· The elephant probably irritated by the sound of drum/canister beating as well as the noise caused by the onlookers, plunged into the river at 1350 hrs and swimmed across within 02 minutes.
· Sr.Commandant ordered two RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff to keep track of the movement of the elephant across the river in Jharkhand. They left on a motorcycle immediately.
· Sr.Commandant arranged for damaged tyres from GENERAL STORES DEPOT. Deputy General Manager by then had mobilized civil defense workers. RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE and civil defense both together spread the tyres along the river bed and started fire to scare the elephant in case it wanted to come back.
· The RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE tracking team kept track of movement of the elephant till it had crossed two villages and crossed Ajoy River again at another location. During its journey, it caused massive damage to crop and houses of villagers. When it became apparent that it would not return to CHITTARANJAN, the tracking team was asked to come back.
· Thus, an emergency caused by the elephant was successfully managed.
Good Work:
The crisis was properly handled by contribution from every member of the team. Deputy General Manager and Sr.Commandant were the officers handling the crisis assisted by PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER and ASC. The RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE personnel involved fought fatigue and stayed focused on the job at hand through out. Drivers of the vehicles were all along present on duty. The employees involved risked their lives at times when the elephant charged and came perilously close. At one moment, it was about to attack the team when the Asst Ranger had to fire at it. The team should be commended in recognition of the good work done. Some local residents also helped the team by their tireless efforts.
On 26.08.2007, a wild rogue elephant strayed into Chittaranjan Township. The details of the incident in chronological order are as under: -
· At around 0645 hrs, Sr.Commandant received the information through his driver that one wild rogue elephant has entered the CHITTARANJAN Township chased by 200-250 villagers of Jamtara district who were chasing it by sounding of drums etc.
· That the elephant had strayed from its herd two days back and after that had gone on rampage killing one old woman and destroying substantial property in Phulberia village of Dist Jamtara, Jharkhand.
· The elephant was spotted near street 1D of Township when information poured in.
· Sr.Commandant immediately informed his subordinates to move to the spot, informed police and then informed Deputy General Manager/CHITTARANJAN LOCO WORKS at around 0700 hrs.
· The villagers left CHITTARANJAN LOCO WORKS after leaving the elephant here at around 0730 hrs.
· Deputy General Manager immediately started contacting forest officials, spoke to the DFO and requested for mobilization for forest officials.
· PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER was fortunately in ASANSOL. On the instructions of Deputy General Manager, he contacted and mobilized forest officials. Assistant Range Officer with his staff with equipments like shotgun, searchlights (02 nos) etc started from ASANSOL by a vehicle sent by Deputy General Manager from CHITTARANJAN.
· Forest officials from Rupnarayanpur office also started for CHITTARANJAN at around 0900 hrs.
· Meanwhile, the elephant had taken shelter in a grove beside a water body near Karnail Singh Park.
· By 0930, Deputy General Manager, Sr.Commandant and PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER were on the spot. The place was crowded by onlookers and media persons. The RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE personnel were trying to keep them at bay.
· The forest officials told that they will only operate after sunset. They requested CHITTARANJAN LOCO WORKS administration to arrange for crackers in sufficient quantity.
· Deputy General Manager meanwhile drafted the alert message to be circulated through cable network as well as through mobile public address system.
· A vehicle sent to bring forest officials with mashals etc broke down near Dabur more.
· Sr.Commandant immediately told INSPECTOR/RPF/TM to mobilize resources locally and arrange for 40 mashals.
· Seeing the crowd, Sr.Commandant gave instructions to mobilize additional force and make available Walkie-talkies in sufficient number.
· Sr.Commandant also instructed his subordinates to make available searchlights (03) in charged condition at 1600 hrs.
· The crowd was kept at a distance from the beast. However, due to curiosity of the onlookers, RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE found it very difficult and had to chase the crowd frequently.
· At 1630 hrs forest officials started lighting crackers. Agitated, the elephant moved from the location and came on the road.
· Deputy General Manager, Sr.Commandant, PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER, forest personnel, RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE personnel and some enthusiastic residents pursued the elephant. The plan was to direct the elephant towards the route that it had taken while making entry.
· The plan went haywire as the elephant turned and charged towards the pursuers twice.
· Meanwhile the darkness fell. Mashals were lighted.
· The elephant climbed the hillock near the Karnail Singh Park and moved towards Simjuri.
· It was difficult to locate the elephant in dark. However, two RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff kept the officials posted regarding the movement of the elephant.
· Deputy General Manager, Sr.Commandant and PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER kept pursuing the elephant helped by RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff in sizeable numbers.
· The forest staff declined to move since topography was unknown to them and they could not do much in darkness.
· By 2000 hrs, stock of mashals exhausted. But the team succeeded in directing the animal towards Ajoy River bed in Simjuri.
· By 2130 hrs, again received information that the animal had resurfaced behind Treatment Plant. Meanwhile, Sr.Commandant instructed Inspectors under him to draw weapons only to be used for self defense. Sr.Commandant himself drew a pistol.
· The animal was pursued again towards a nullah behind the treatment plant. It was thought that now the animal would leave CHITTARANJAN.
· At 2200 hrs information was received that the animal was spotted near Children Park. It created panic since the animal was now moving towards crowded areas.
· The animal was then pursued and it moved from Children Park to loco park, GM office gates, GENERAL STORES DEPOT, Plant Park damaging boundary walls, fencing wires and gates.
· At 0125, the situation was reviewed by Deputy General Manager and Sr.Commandant. It was felt that the team was tired, short of resources and was no longer able to control the movement of the animal. It was decided to call off the operation for the day.
· Sr.Commandant made back up arrangements for the night by deploying a tracking team that will keep track of the animal and inform the security control about it from time to time. Keeping in view the busy traffic in the morning, Sr.Commandant deployed additional RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff to block movement of people all around the area in which the elephant was located.
· Deputy General Manager kept the GM informed about the developments all along. In consultation with the GM, he decided to close the railway schools next day in view of the emergency.
· The operation was suspended at 0145 hrs.
· The tracking team kept track of elephant during the night. It moved from GENERAL STORES DEPOT towards Fatehpur and took shelter in the grove near river bed behind the Treatment Plant.
· The morning started normally since the animal was cornered in an uninhabited area. Sr.Commandant sent reinforcement to the place since crowd of curious onlookers had started gathering there.
· Meanwhile the GM/CHITTARANJAN LOCO WORKS took up the matter with the Principal Conservator of Forests/West Bengal. Sensing the seriousness, DFO started for the spot.
· It was planned to push the elephant towards village Bhaga (Jharkhand) all along the river bed without allowing it to stray into colonies.
· However, again the forest officials declined to start operation before sunset.
· Frustrated, Sr.Commandant told RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff to keep the elephant confined to the river bed by sounding canisters, drums etc. He also asked to chase the onlookers away.
· At 1245 hrs, Sr.Commandant was informed that the crowd had swelled to unmanageable proportions and RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff on duty were finding it difficult to exercise crowd control. Immediately, Sr.Commandant ordered for reinforcement and moved to the spot.
· The elephant probably irritated by the sound of drum/canister beating as well as the noise caused by the onlookers, plunged into the river at 1350 hrs and swimmed across within 02 minutes.
· Sr.Commandant ordered two RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE staff to keep track of the movement of the elephant across the river in Jharkhand. They left on a motorcycle immediately.
· Sr.Commandant arranged for damaged tyres from GENERAL STORES DEPOT. Deputy General Manager by then had mobilized civil defense workers. RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE and civil defense both together spread the tyres along the river bed and started fire to scare the elephant in case it wanted to come back.
· The RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE tracking team kept track of movement of the elephant till it had crossed two villages and crossed Ajoy River again at another location. During its journey, it caused massive damage to crop and houses of villagers. When it became apparent that it would not return to CHITTARANJAN, the tracking team was asked to come back.
· Thus, an emergency caused by the elephant was successfully managed.
Good Work:
The crisis was properly handled by contribution from every member of the team. Deputy General Manager and Sr.Commandant were the officers handling the crisis assisted by PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER and ASC. The RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE personnel involved fought fatigue and stayed focused on the job at hand through out. Drivers of the vehicles were all along present on duty. The employees involved risked their lives at times when the elephant charged and came perilously close. At one moment, it was about to attack the team when the Asst Ranger had to fire at it. The team should be commended in recognition of the good work done. Some local residents also helped the team by their tireless efforts.
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