Bagadihi, April 11: Four elephants were killed by a speeding train on Monday. The train hit them near a level crossing in Bagadihi Forest Range area in Odisha's Jharsuguda district. Assistant Conservator of Forests PK Dhal said, “Elephants were crossing the railway track, which is a designated elephant corridor, on the Howrah-Mumbai line,” reported NDTV.

According to Dhal, The elephants were killed instantly as the impact was very severe. Several request have been made by the forest department to the railway authorities to make sure that trains must slowdown in the elephant corridor. The speed limit has been set to 30 Km/h in the elephant corridors and drivers are instructed to blow horn constantly to alert the animal. These type of incidents are very common in Assam.

In another incident of man-animal conflict, a herd of elephants destroyed a home in Surajpur village of Chattisgarh today. A loss of Rs 70,000 was caused to the villager, reported ANI. The forest department has offered Rs 50,000 as a compensation to the villager. According to a report by News Agency PTI, 50-year-old man was crushed to death by a herd of elephants.in the forest area of Surajpur district on April 1. Officer of Pratappur forest circle, Prabhakar Khalko said, “The victim who was identified as Dasrath from Bojha village was trampled by the elephants on Khadgawa -Songara road,” reported NDTV.

According to forest officials, 60 elephants moving in the area since the beginning of April. Villagers have been advised to stay alert by the forest department. Several incidents have reported of human-elephant conflict from the forests of Northern Chattisgarh. In Jharkhand, forest department officials, in early April warned villagers of the presence of a herd of 18 elephants in Dhanbad district, reported NDTV.

Conflict between human and elephants has risen drastically in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand. These states are also home to over 10 per cent of the country's elephant population.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2018 03:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).