Jumbos turned violent owing to laser lights, says Paramekkavu Devaswom

In the incident during Thrissur Pooram, tusker Uttoly Raman came charging at people amid the elephant parade of Madathil Varavu ceremony of Thiruvambady Bhagavathy at midnight.
 Thrissur Pooram
Thrissur Pooram
Updated on
2 min read

THRISSUR: Though Thrissur Pooram this year concluded without any hitches, it seems the allegations didn’t. Paramekkavu Devaswom, one of the factions that organises Thrissur Pooram, has come out against the use of laser torches or laser light sources in festival grounds, which they suspect was the reason behind elephants turning violent amid the parade.

Paramekkavu Devaswom secretary G Rajesh alleged that the elephant didn’t attack any people, after turning violent and all it did was to run amok.

“There is some reason behind the elephant turning panic and it should be probed. We suspect that some people with vested interest focused laser light on the elephant, leading to a chaotic situation,” he said. The devaswoms urged the district administration and police to ban laser lights in festival grounds for the safety of public. Both devaswoms had raised allegations against an animal rights organisation for conspiring to focus laser lights on the eyes of paraded elephants to deliberately create issues.

In the incident during Thrissur Pooram, tusker Uttoly Raman came charging at people amid the elephant parade of Madathil Varavu ceremony of Thiruvambady Bhagavathy at midnight. The tusker didn’t attack anyone. Instead it ran through a pocket road for about a kilometre. As many as 60 people were injured after they fell while trying to run away from the violent tusker.

The condition of three people who suffered injuries during the stampede was critical, but through right intervention and treatment, they were brought back to stable health.

In addition, allegations of laser torch being focused on elephants were reported from several other festivals. According to P S Ease, wildlife expert and biologist, “If laser light can drive animals away or frighten them, it could have been the most effective method to resolve human-wild animal conflicts across Kerala.”

He urged the festival organisers to come up with evidence to support their argument that it was laser lights that troubled the elephants. Heritage Animal Task Force chairman V K Venkitachalam said that the allegations were baseless and the organisers were trying to hide their faults through it.

“Many elephants paraded in Thrissur Pooram this year were either injured or in ill health. How they got a fitness certificate itself is a mystery. It is to hide these drawbacks that devaswoms came up with such an allegation,” he added.

Three elephants ran amok during pooram

Every year, at least 100 elephants participate in Thrissur Pooram for all the elephant parades together. This year three elephants ran amok amid the 30-hour-long rituals. The elephants were paraded only after obtaining fitness certificate from a team of veterinary experts.

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