Alappuzha: Jumbo pulled out of marsh

Alappuzha: A temple elephant,  Mullakkal Balakrishnan, which was  trapped in a quagmire at Thuravoor here,  was pulled out  after a 17-hour rescue operation late on Tuesday evening. It had jumped out of the vehicle in which it was being transported to  Mullakkal temple from Thrikkakara  where he was attending festivities for a week. The incident happened at Thuravoor  around   3.30  a.m. when it broke the kraal and  ran out through the narrow lanes  for  about six kilometres and finally fell in the quagmire at  Ananthankeri near Valapattanam.

The elephant damaged an autorickshaw and a compound wall in the area. A team of mahouts and fire and rescue force, veterinarians, elephant squad  and local people, conducted a major operation to rescue the  45-year-old elephant which remained stuck in the lagoon during the whole day.   The jumbo is  owned by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).    Saseendra Dev, a vet with TDB, who led  the rescue operation, told DC  that the condition of the elephant was stable.   

As many as 200 local men had joined the operation and emptied the water from the  lagoon.  Later,  the starved elephant fell motionless in the water. Then  the people filled the swamp with  stacks of sand bundles in front of the elephant and pulled it with ropes.  Mr  V.K.Venkitachalam, secretary, Heritage Animal Task Force,  criticised the way the elephant was confined in the vehicle to carry it to  Alappuzha.  “It was  being paraded at Thrikkakara temple in the musth period and it had a criminal rack record as well. The authorities should investigate the incident,” he said.  ADM  K.A. Kabeer  and district police chief S. Surendaran also were present at the spot.