No more elephants for festival in city says forest dept, moves to arrest two
Bengaluru: In a first, the state forest department has ordered that two elephants be confiscated and their owners from Kerala be arrested for violating wildlife laws during the Ganesha festival this year.
The Urban Forest Division has been given the task of getting the elephants and arresting those responsible for bringing the animals without permission.
The event organisers in Bellandur had failed to get the clearance certificate from the wildlife wing of the department, brought two elephants overnight and sent them back on the same evening without informing forest officials. But they had given out the videos to television channels and posted elephant procession pictures on social networking websites.
Taking up a suo motu case, the wildlife wing has now booked cases against the organisers and elephant owners. Mr Mithun Reddy from Bengaluru and Ananda Mani from Kerala have been named as accused in case and the investigation is on.
Wildlife conservationists claim that more than 100 applications are sent to the Chief Wildlife Warden for bringing elephants for various functions in the city. During Ganesha and Ayappa seasons, the numbers shoot up. But this time, the state forest department cancelled all the requests outright.
Each tusker costs organisers about Rs 50,000 per event, and elephant owners take care of the transportation. Animal activists in Bengaluru have been trying to stop use of elephants in processions and religious events, but the demand is only growing every year.
Some IT majors too demand elephants during welcoming parties for their foreign delegates, as a representation of Indian culture.
“Recently a resident had got an elephant from Kerala for his house warming ceremony. Most of these elephant transfers did not have permission from none of the forest department wings.
Some of them have been booked by the department, but this is the first time the forest department has demanded the seizure of elephants. This may bring down the use of elephants during events,” a conservationist said.
