Outfit wants to prevent 'illegal donation' of jumbo

Noted animal rights campaigner Heritage Animal Task Force has come out against the proposed offering of an elephant at a Kerala temple alleging that it is the violation of a Supreme Court order.
The state-based outfit sent a letter to the Inspector General and Director, 'Project Elephant' under Ministry of Environment and Forests seeking its immediate intervention to check the alleged 'unlawful' offering.
The campaigner also attached the copy of a related apex court order along with the letter.
According to the letter, the advisory committee of Asramam Sree Krishna Temple in Kollam District is organising a function at the temple premises which would witness an offering of a captive elephant by a person on September 12.

Prayar Goapalakrishnan, the president of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) which manages the temple, would receive the jumbo on behalf of the temple during the proposed function.
The outfit alleged that as per the Supreme Court Order, the state Government has lost the legal status to issue new ownership certificate on behalf of any elephant in favour of any person or trust or temple or any other place of worship.

Moreover, the state government had issued an order stating that everybody must adhere to various conditions to donate an elephant to any legal entity or an individual, it said.
"All these conditions have not been satisfied by the donor in this present case of illegal donation of elephant," V K Venkitachalam, Secretary, Heritage Animal Task Force, said in the letter.

He also alleged that Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages hundreds of temples in the state, has 29 elephants in its custody "without" having any statutory ownership certificate.
Moreover, these 29 elephants suffer from "various diseases" mainly due to the inconvenience at 29 temples at which they are now kept in violation of elephant preservation rules in the state, he said.
The campaigner also wanted the state Forest Minister K Raju to keep away from the proposed function. "It is high time for the state Government to initiate legal action to prevent this type of illegal transfer of custody of an elephant to a temple, owned by the TDB," he said.

The Devaswom Board could not use its financial resources to maintain an elephant which is admitted to a temple through this type of "illegal donation', he pointed out in the letter. He wanted the Project Elephant authorities to initiate "urgent concrete actions" to prevent the donation.