Guwahati: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought responses from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and other authorities regarding the death of seven elephants near Guwahati, which were struck by a Rajdhani Express train in December last year.
The tribunal was hearing the matter after taking suo motu cognisance of a newspaper report on the incident. According to the report, the tragic deaths occurred on December 20, 2025, when the Sairang–New Delhi Rajdhani Express collided with a herd of elephants.
The impact also led to the derailment of the train’s engine and five coaches on the Jamunamukh–Kampur section under the Lumding division of Northeast Frontier Railway.
In its order dated January 5, the NGT observed, “Prima facie, the facts and circumstances emerging from the news item raise substantial questions relating to the environment.”
The tribunal has made the CPCB, the Assam government represented by its Special Chief Secretary (Environment), the state’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, and the Assam State Pollution Control Board respondents in the case.
According to the report cited by the NGT, the impact of the collision caused the engine and five coaches of the Rajdhani Express to derail on the Jamunamukh–Kampur section under the Lumding division of the Northeast Frontier Railway.
The NGT has directed that the matter be listed before its eastern zonal bench in Kolkata on January 28.
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On December 20, the newly launched Sairang–New Delhi Rajdhani Express crashed into a herd of elephants near Changjurai village in Assam’s Hojai district, killing seven elephants—three adults and four calves—and injuring another calf. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma promptly ordered a detailed inquiry into the incident and directed the Forest Department to examine the circumstances that led to the collision.
Nagaon Divisional Forest Officer Suhash Kadam had stated that dense fog could have been one of the factors responsible for the accident.
