Using jumbos for fests: HC issues notices to state govt

Kochi: The high court has issued notices to the state government, chief wildlife warden and the devaswom board on a public interest litigation on introducing a practical and convenient deployment of elephants during the festive season.
Admitting a petition filed by society for elephant welfare, a division bench of acting chief justice SVN Bhatti and Basant Balaji, directed the government to place on record a mechanism supported by a statutory scheme, providing a calendar for each elephant to be used by the temple or organization so that the elephants get the required rest and recuperation between one festivity and another.
It said that the larger question on whether the continuous use of elephants for about seven months amounts to cruelty to the elephant or not will also be considered in this PIL. The petitioner, Chitra Iyer, has approached the court seeking an interim order directing the state and the devaswom boards to take immediate measures to restrain the use of captive elephants for festivals wherein there are no tanks for bathing.
“Elephants prefer to be bathed in streams, rivers or ponds where they can wallow in the water. But in temples in Kerala water is sprinkled by using a hose,” it said. TNN