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Locha Deb
Santhosh Krishnamoorthy
LOCATION: Buxa Tiger Reserve, Alipurduar, West Bengal, India DETAILS: Camera: Nikon D500,
Lens: Nikon 200-500 mm. f/5.6, Shutter speed: 1/250 sec., Aperture: f/5.6, ISO 250, Focal length: 450 mm.
LOCATION: Lalbagh, Bengaluru, India DETAILS: Camera: Nikon D800, Lens: Nikon 200-500 mm. f/5.6,
Shutter speed: 1/320 sec., Aperture: f/13, ISO 250, Focal length: 390 mm.
Off Track In West Bengal’s
Alipurduar district, the driver and
passengers of a stalled Malda-bound
train hang out of doorways and
windows to watch an elephant cross
the railway track. This ‘killer-line’
runs through the Buxa Tiger Reserve
and has been responsible for the
macabre deaths of well over 60
wild elephants in the past decade.
Speed limits imposed to minimise
such accidents are blatantly ignored
and off enders are rarely brought
to book. Ironically, the Indian
Railways mascot is an elephant
named Bholu. The linear alignments,
including roads, canals, and railway
lines, that brutally cleave through
India’s Protected Areas have caused
grievous harm to the country’s
biodiversity. Yet, even as the death
count of wildlife rises, new linear
alignment projects are proposed
and approved in and through our
fragmented, notifi ed wildernesses.
This image drives home the urgent
need to preserve the integrity of our
parks and sanctuaries at all costs.Sunbathers In the midst of hectic
Bengaluru city, creatures great
and small fi nd a moment of peace
in the erstwhile royal botanical
garden called Lalbagh. On a nippy
November morning, Santhosh
Krishnamoorthy made his way to
the park’s lotus pond just as the sun
began to dissipate the winter mists.
As he looked out over the water,
he observed fi rst one, then two and
ultimately four checkered keelbacks
emerge from the depths and settle
atop a single large lily pad. Their wet
bodies gleaming in the sunlight, the
four snakes enjoyed the warmth of
the day, periodically striking at little
fi sh as the sun kick-started their
metabolism. Their seductively curving
bodies and the glint of water and
light make for a surrealy beautiful
natural history image and moment.