Coimbatore: Chennai High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Forest Department to file a report on the Makna elephant whose tongue and jaw were damaged by a country-made bomb in Coimbatore on the 9th of last month.
Coimbatore: Chennai High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Forest Department to file a report on the Makna elephant whose tongue and jaw were damaged by a country-made bomb in Coimbatore on the 9th of last month.
The elephant which had its tongue and jaw damaged and was wandering around, unable to eat food, eventually died. The case was taken up in the Chennai High Court on a case filed by People for Cattle in India which sought an order from the Tamil Nadu Forest Department to capture the elephant and provide appropriate treatment. The petition stated that the action of the forest department that caused harm to an already injure elephant is reprehensible.
The petition stated that action should be taken against the forest department for exploding firecrackers and chasing the elephant, even after forest officials said the affected elephant was unlikely to survive for long.
The bench comprising Judges Sathyanarayanan and Hemalatha heard the case. Special Pleader Vijay Prasanth, appearing for the Forest Department, said the forest officials had to chase away the injured elephant only as he went near the area where LPG cylinders were stored in a police camp.
He said that even as injured elephant was moving near houses in the suburbs and the farmlands were damaged, forest rangers worked with dedication. Food items were place on behalf of the forest department even though the elephant had a damaged mouth. The Kerala Forest Department was alerted that the elephant was moving towards Kerala, but unfortunately the elephant died near the wooden bridge on the Solaiyur - Attappadi Road.
In this regard, the judges have directed the Forest Department to explain what kind of efforts (a) guidelines are being followed to drive away elephants from the forests. They also ordered the forest department to file a report on the dead Makna elephant and adjourned the case to November 6.