Though elephant lovers were excited about the participation of celebrity elephant Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran for the Vilambaram ritual of the Thrissur Pooram on Sunday, animal rights activists allege violation of rules and torture for the partially blind elephant.
V.K. Venkitachalam, Secretary of the Heritage Animal Task Force, wrote to Principal Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, said that parading of a partially blind elephant was against Elephant Management Rules.
“Though it is illegal to use a partially blind elephant for festivals, the district administration gave approval for parading it for an hour, from 9.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. But the ceremony got completed only at 10.49 a.m. and the elephant was allowed to leave the place only at 11.30 a.m. It is a violation of elephant parade rule. The State Forest Department has banned any type of transportation of elephants from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. considering the hot climate.”
It is unfortunate that the rules were violated in the presence of around 250 police officers. He requested the intervention of the MoEF to stop such violations.