CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has told the Tamil Nadu Forest department that it cannot run elephant camps without getting the necessary permission under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, from the authorities of the union government.
A special bench of Justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy, dealing with forest-related cases, also stated that the under-construction elephant camp at Chadivayal cannot be started without the permission.
“You have to comply with the statutes. Section 38 of the Wildlife Protection Act mandates permission for setting up camps. You have to get the sanction from the authorities under the Act,” the bench said.
The bench directed the state forest department to file a status report on the M R Palayam and the Chadivayal elephant camps. Special government pleader T Seenivasan informed the court that there is no proposal to shift the elephants from the M R Palayam elephant rehabilitation camp to the Chadivayal camp. Also, he stated that construction is being carried out for the Chadivayal camp at Rs 8.26 crore.
Earlier, S Muralidharan, an activist, brought the issue of mandatory permission for elephant camps to the notice of the bench. He stated that even the M R Palayam camp is being operated without the necessary permission.
Meanwhile, the bench directed the forest department to file a report on the number of wildlife veterinarians, with expertise in handling wild animals, available with the department and the animal sciences university.