’No more elephants in public places’

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http://www.timesthaneplus.com/fullstory.asp?articleID=TP1ART1022006

 

’No more elephants in public places’

 

....demand animal rights activists in the city. Yogesh Gupta relates the

build-up leading to this move.

 

 

The recent death of a 33-year-old female elephant after being hit by a

water tanker in Mumbai on September 19 has provoked animal rights

activists from Thane to take definitive action and call for a complete ban

of elephants in all public places.

 

City activists are fed up with the rude behaviour of mahouts and

ineffective action by relevant authorities to keep these helpless

creatures off the crowded streets. Just last Tuesday, two volunteers of

the Thane Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) saw an

elephant struggling to walk on a crowded street near Thane railway station

and requested the mahout to take the animal away from the public place. To

their shock, the mahout retorted that if they did not go away he would let

the elephant loose on the road.

 

Jayprakash, a member of the Thane SPCA, who bore the brunt on Tuesday

evening says, " We keep a routine check on animal welfare on city streets.

Along with a friend, I requested the mahout to stop parading the animal on

the crowded station road. " Unfortunately, the action did not deliver the

desired results this time, as the case often is.

 

In another incident, Hussain Rangwala, a Mumbra-based entrepreneur, was

shocked to see an elephant stuck in a traffic jam near Chintamani circle

on Wednesday evening. " I feared that the Roopkali incident could be

repeated, so I informed animal activists, " says Hussain.

 

Nilesh Bhanage, General Secretary of Plant and Animals Welfare Society

(PAWS), Thane recalls filing a police complaint last year against a mahout

riding the elephant across the rickshaw stand near Thane station. " The

mahout evaded arrest by simply refusing to climb down and stayed on the

elephant. People need to discourage giving alms to them in order to reduce

the roaming of elephants on roads, " feels Bhanage.

 

The animal NGO Karuna has managed to get two mahouts arrested in the last

two years operating in the Thane-Mulund area. Trustee of Karuna Dharnendra

Sanghavi says, " Elephants need a lot of food, which a mahout cannot always

afford. So elephants are paraded in vegetable markets where vendors feed

them leftover vegetables. " Not only do passing vehicles pose a risk of

injury to the animals, but melting tarmac roads are believed to infect

elephants’ feet.

 

A police complaint can be lodged under Bombay Police Act 100, which bans

roaming animals on public roads causing injury or damage to people. A

complaint can also be filed under the Prevention of Cruelty Act, if any

animal is found in an injured state.

 

However, Shakuntala Majumdar, President of Thane SPCA feels that lodging a

police complaint is also a tough task in such a case. " If the mahout is

arrested, the police are unwilling to take care of a huge elephant, " she

says. Many activists argue that elephants on the road are the

responsibility of wildlife department than of local authorities like the

RTO and police, which further allows mahouts to flout rules.

 

" We do not have any power to discourage or take action against elephants

on the road. Our officers can only request the mahout to operate in less

crowded areas, " says an official at the Thane RTO office near Thane Jail.

 

Ajit Deshmukh, Senior Police Inspector, Naupada police station states that

they cannot arrest the roaming elephants in their jurisdiction. " But if a

citizen complains about this issue, then we can initiate action against

mahout under relevant sections, " he concludes.