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.
