(IN) Cruely to elephants is an unending story in kerala

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Plea to check cruelty to elephants

 

J.S. Bablu

 

`Implement steps to ensure proper maintenance of captive elephants'

 

KOZHIKODE: The Elephant Lovers Association,

Thrissur, has petitioned the Prime Minister seeking his intervention as chairman

of The Wildlife Board of India to curb the increasing

incidents of cruelty to elephants. The petition also refers to the

recent incident of the burial of an elephant in the premises of a

residence in Balussery in Kozhikode district. (The body, which was

buried in the property of the residence of its owner, had been exhumed

and buried in Peruvannamuzhi forests following protests by the local

people).

 

In a petition, V.K. Venkitachalam, secretary of the association, said the

burial of the elephant was in violation of the Captive Elephants (Management and

Maintenance) Rules 2003 and Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. He alleged that the

Forest Department had failed to prevent violation of the Act in spite of the

fact that

the office of the Chief Conservator of Forests (Vigilance) of Kerala

Forest Department functioned from Kozhikode. The body was exhumed after the

District Medical Officer intervened following public protest, the petition said.

 

The petition hence requested that The Wildlife Board of India issue stringent

orders to the Government officials concerned in the State and Centre to

implement concrete steps to ensure proper management and maintenance of 1,250

captive elephants kept in " unauthorised elephant training camps " in all the 14

districts in the State. The petition also demanded that District Collectors be

empowered to gather information regarding persons and places of elephant

training camps in each district. Also, they should be empowered to implement the

Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules 2003 with the help of

District Veterinary Officers, District Forest Officers and District

Superintendents of Police. The District Collectors should also be permitted to

implement rules for conducting statutory post-mortem examinations at the death

site itself only with the help of the pathology department of the Mannuthy

Veterinary College, Thrissur.

 

The Collectors should also be empowered to enlist forest areas inside their

Revenue district territory exclusively for burial of bodies of both captive and

wild elephants, after the completion of both the statutory post-mortem

examination and preservation of vital parts for forensic test either at the

Police Forensic Laboratory in Kozhikode or at the Centre of Cellular and

Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.

 

The petition asked the Board to seek explanation from the Chief Secretary of

Kerala and Secretary of the Environment Empowerment Committee (Secretary, State

Devaswom Department) regarding penal actions taken by State Government officials

against those who were responsible for the burial of the 12-year-old elephant in

Balussery. It also sought an explanation from the secretary of the Union

Ministry of Finance regarding the details of allocation of insurance policy

amount granted to more than 500 elephant contractors in respect of the full

cover insurance policy.