Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation and Leader of the House of Parliament

¶ 01 MEASURES TO PREVENT ELEPHANT DEATHS DUE TO COLLISIONS WITH TRAINS: STATEMENT

¶ 02 Hon. Speaker, following the tragic incident at dawn on the 20th where a herd of elephants was struck by a train, a sensitive yet important discussion has unfolded both inside and outside Parliament.

¶ 03 Elephant-train collisions have been a longstanding tragedy in our country. The Department of Railways is vital to the economy and daily life, and our elephant population is a critical natural asset. As custodians of a century-old railway, we regret that a durable solution has not yet been implemented. We will prioritize a sustainable resolution.

¶ 04 Over the past decade, a significant number of elephants have died due to train collisions. I table a report containing data on elephant deaths by trains from 2013 to 2025.

¶ 05 Prior to this incident, the Railways Department and the Ministry held three meetings on solutions. On 09 December, we proposed establishing committees with the surrounding villages at identified collision hotspots. Due to delays in receiving village information, we reminded Railways on 30 December and again on 03 January to obtain details.

¶ 06 A purely technical fix is insufficient; this is acknowledged by Railways, the Environment Ministry, and independent conservationists. I proposed involving local communities to promptly alert the nearest station when elephants are near the line. Some questioned feasibility on social media, but we all care for elephants, even if we may not fully understand their behavior. We therefore invited relevant organizations to Parliament with the Hon. Minister of Environment to examine prior pilot efforts. Notably, a Holistic Community Development Project was implemented in Siyambalangamuwa by Ms. Irosh Perera, reported as successful; I place that report in the Library.

¶ 07 There is also a report titled “Programme to Prevent Elephant Collisions on Sri Lanka’s Railway Lines” by Dr. Pruthiviraaj (Pruthiviraj) Fernando and team; I place this in the Library.