HC: Procure surgical equipment for elephant camps immediately

BENGALURU: The State Government on Wednesday submitted an action plan to the High Court to improve the condition of elephant camps. Declining to grant six months’ time sought by the government to procure surgical equipment for elephant camps, a division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar directed the state to do it immediately. This was after the government informed the court that the equipment like refrigerator, steriliser, microscope and centrifuge will be purchased and supplied to the camps in two months.

The required emergency medicines will be procured in a month. Surgical equipment like artery forceps and scalpel blade, curved forceps scissors will be purchased within a period of two months. Tranquilising and anaesthetic equipment ill be procured within six months, the state said in the action plan.  The action plan was submitted by the Additional Government Advocate V Sreenidhi to the court in response to a public interest litigation filed by city-based advocate NP Amrutesh seeking directions to improve the condition of the elephant camps. 

In response to the directions issued by the court, the government had constituted an expert committee which submitted a report on October 30 last year. Later, the court directed the state to come out with an action plan to implement the report. According to the action plan, the state said suitable satellite camps sites will be identified to shift the elephants from the camps which have more than 15 elephants, within six months. The committee had recommended that ideally, a camp should not have more than 15 elephants. At present, there are 23 elephants at Matthigodu camp, 29 in Dubare and 24 in Sakrebail camps.

On shifting of elephant camps from the protected areas of national parks and sanctuaries, the government said: “Suitable sites with perennial running water facilities like streams and rivers and infrastructure are required. It requires budgetary allocations. Three years is required to implement this recommendation.”