The Tamil Nadu forest department has decided to build underpasses for elephants between Madukkarai on the outskirts of Coimbatore and Walayar near the Kerala border after two jumbos were killed on the track in just over a month.

According to The Hindu report , the state’s forest department and the Southern Railway’s Palakkad Division agreed during a meeting on Sunday on the need to build underpasses to avoid elephant casualties on the track that runs through a dense forest.

Two jumbos have been killed on the track near Madukkarai in less than 40 days.

Additional principal chief conservators of forests H. Basavaraju (Wildlife) and Raghuram Singh (Project Tiger), the divisional railway manager of Palakkad division Naresh Lalwani attended the meeting.

According to the report, the bushes along the curves between Madukkarai and Walayar would be cleared to provide better visibility for both loco pilots and elephants.

But the meeting could not take a decision on reducing the speed of trains, because only the General Manager of Southern Railways can make that choice.

The two sides also decided to build an earthen ramp at the place where the second elephant was killed last Friday to help the jumbos cross the track easily. At present, the track is about 15 feet higher than the ground level.

Men from forest department’s anti-poaching units will be deployed for joint patrol on the track with railway gang men from Monday.