Thiruvananthapuram: The first phase of the upgraded elephant rehabilitation centre at Kottur will be commissioned in February next year. The project is being implemented at a cost of Rs 108 crore with funding from KIIFB. Once fully upgraded, it will become the largest care and cure centre for elephants in the world.
The centre has facilities to accommodate 50 elephants including the existing 16 elephants. The existing centre is being upgraded to international standards as part of the government’s special consideration for the protection and conservation of elephants. A fund of Rs 71.9 crore was spent on the construction work of the first phase of the project that began in 2019.
As many as 50 elephant habitats (enclosures), specially enclosed by steel poles and steel nets, to house elephants in their natural habitat on 176 hectares of forest land in the Kottur forest area, will be built in the centre. Out of these, 35 will be completed in the first phase and the rest in the second phase.
The project, built by the Housing Board, will also include the construction of various reservoirs and check dams at the Neyyar Dam and also special facilities for the care of elephant calves.
The aim of the new centre is to give the elephants that are brought to the rehabilitation centre a natural ecosystem just like in the forest.
The centre will also have an elephant museum, a veterinary hospital with super speciality facilities, a study and research centre for nature lovers and students, a training centre for mahouts, an entrance plaza, an administrative office, parking for visitors, a cafeteria, cottages, a toilet block and a special elephant viewing facility.
A post-mortem facility and a cemetery are also being set up as part of the project. A large kitchen for cooking food for the elephants, a spacious area for feeding them and a facility for the public to view the elephants at a safe distance are being set up.
The project envisages a large convention centre and an amphitheatre at Kottur. A unit for making paper from elephant dung and a system for producing biogas from waste will be set up here.
Special facilities will be provided for collection and disposal of solid waste, including non-recyclable plastics. A liquid waste treatment plant is also part of the project.