ALAPPUZHA: A break down of the incident in which tusker Mullackal Balakrishnan went berserk and got trapped in a marshy land at Thuravoor reveals a blatant disregard to rules by various authorities.
“Authorities of the Travancore Devaswom Board, besides the Alappuzha Mullackal Rajarajeswari and Thrikkakara Vamanamoorthi temples, violated the norms for taking care of the elephant and its transportation,” said V K Venkitachalam, secretary of the Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF).
“The 42-year-old tusker was brought to Thrikkakara from Alappuzha for the temple festival. As soon as the festival concluded at 1 am on Tuesday, it was loaded onto the lorry for shifting. It did not get enough sleep or food during the continuous seven-day festival,” Venkitachalam said. He said rules were also violated in its transportation.
“Rules enforced by the Forests and Wildlife Department mandate the lorry have a barricade and additional logs to prevent the movement of animal once it is loaded. Moreover, elephants are only allowed to be transported from 6 am to 8 am and from 6 pm to 8 pm,” Venkitachalam said.Instructions like the presence of a mahout with the elephant and fixing a light on the platform were also overlooked in this case, he said, adding the rules were formed following a court order after an elephant destroyed the barricade killed a mahout in 2009.
“The lack of food, water and sleep caused the elephant to go berserk and destroy the barricade. Once it was trapped, it quickly got exhausted. Only the glucose administered by veterinary doctors helped it survive. The muddy marsh water may have also entered its trunk, compounding its problems,” he said.
In fact, even permitting the parading of the elephant was against the rules, Venkitchalam said. “The elephant has killed more than five mahouts and a woman worker of the temple. It has also lost sight in one eye. Rules discourage parading of such elephants. By giving permission to parade the elephant, the district administration and Forest Department also violated the rules,” he said.
Internal injuries
The use of coir to pull out the elephant from the trench may have done more harm than good. Veterinarians said elephants should not be pulled out using coir as it may cause internal injuries to the animal. “Belts made of soft material should be used in such cases. The slippery land is also hampering rescue operations,” they said. Though airlifting is a good option to save the elephant without much harm, it was not considered by the Elephant Squad or any other government agency, said animal lovers.